Curses and Choices (REWRITTEN AS THE VEILED BEAST)
by sildarmillion
Summary: A curse gone wrong. It was meant to teach the rude and arrogant princess a lesson, but now she might be stuck looking like a beast forever. But will it stop her from proving she can still rule her kingdom, which she is surely going to lose to a scheming foreign prince? And will she find out who was behind the curse all along? (I recommend the rewrite over this one.)
1. Chapter 0 (Prologue)

**A/N: Hi :) Thank you for checking out this story! I've worked on the idea for a really long time, and I'm really excited to share it, so I do really hope to hear what you think! The prologue here is mainly intended to explain the weird geography I invented and it also sets up the source of the main conflict. But starting from Chapter 1 it gets very different when the actual principal characters are introduced, so I hope you stick around! And please review!**

 **Prologue**

Delphine lived in the Forest, mostly by herself. She rarely saw other fairy folk. They tended to isolate themselves. Delphine didn't mind, she preferred to play with the animals. She had just learned how to turn herself into other creatures, and now she was working on turning one creature into another.

She had also learned how to turn herself human. At first she had been eager to visit the many kingdoms surrounding the Forest. There were several kingdoms in the three continents on each side of the Forest. To the south lay the Foretlands, to the north, beyond the mountain range, were the Inghetlands, to the west, on the other side of the lake were the Lochlands, and on the east was the ocean. Delphine had only ever visited three kingdoms in the Foretlands. Then she realized humans can be annoying, especially little girls, especially princesses.

She would never forget the temper tantrum the princess of Jardinia threw when she lost her fairy doll. Delphine had only borrowed it to see how accurately humans had proportioned that doll, but given the scene the little princess created, she decided the girl did not deserve to have it back. In Ligne she got spotted by another little girl, although this one was not a princess, who tried to catch her in a jar. And in Lavigne, she tried to drink from people's cups and tasted the most disgusting liquid imaginable.

So she mostly stayed away from the human kingdoms, though she did visit the rose gardens in the Jardinia from time to time. Roses were exquisite flowers and none grew in the Forest. She liked to collect rose petals and place them on her bed. The only trouble was that the fairy code did not allow her to pick flowers, but she had found a way around that. It turned out she could pluck all the flowers she wanted to if she was in human form. She would usually transform into a kindly old woman, but the queen did not like to have strangers in her garden, and she would always have the gardeners throw the trespasser out.

Delphine really disliked the queen, and once, when the queen's carriage was passing by the edge of the Forest, she transformed one of the horses into a bird. Or tried to. She only managed to give it feathers and turn its feet into bird claws. The creature looked truly horrific, and the coachman probably had to put it down. But she could never do anything to the queen directly because the fairy code also prevented her from ever using magic on a human unless it was at the request of another human. Not long after, the queen died, though Delphine had nothing to do with it. Now she thought she might visit the rose garden in peace, but now the princess threw her out every time she got caught.

So Delphine really didn't care much for humans until one day she met an Inghet prince. She had found herself in a spot of trouble. She had transformed into a rabbit and found herself caught in a hunter's trap and could not change back. She had not learned to transform without the full use of her limbs. The hunter, who was actually the prince, came to fetch the rabbit, but upon seeing her struggle so desperately, took pity on her and decided to set her free. To his utter shock, the rabbit then proceeded to transform into a fairy, and then into the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Delphine had managed to perfect the look that would make men want to do her favors.

But she didn't need any favors from this man, in fact, she owed him one for setting her free. She sat down and talked to him and listened to his story. He had journeyed across the mountains to visit his brother and seek his fortune in the Foretlands. He told her about the Inghet kingdoms, and the life there amidst the ice and snow half the year. Delphine resolved she should visit there some time.

But even after the prince rode off to Lavigne, they became friends. Sometimes he rode out into the Forest and Delphine would be eager to find out how he was faring in foreign lands. He had big plans. He had come to the Foretlands with the hopes of becoming king.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The regent put his forehead on his palm. He was training his daughter, Princess Isabel, heir to the throne of Jardinia, and he did not think she was ready.

At the rate she was going, she wouldn't get through half the appeals that were brought to court. When the lords of two neighboring villages approached with their property dispute, she spent a full hour trying to make them come up with ways to share the orchard in question.

"Just give it to one or the other, or split it in half," he muttered.

But Isabel had lost her temper at the two lords and was shouting at them for not having any common sense. Some of the appellants actually got up and left the court after that.

"Alright, my dear, that's enough for today," Prince Henri had to step in firmly in front of his daughter. "Why don't you retire for the day; I shall settle this dispute."

"Thank you, Father," responded Isabel haughtily. "I do not have the patience to speak with such narrow minded landlords." With that she left in a huff.

Prince Henri really did not wish to keep ruling Jardinia for much longer, but with only a little over a year left before his daughter came of age, he would not be able to get her ready in time. He might never be able to get her ready, and then he would be stuck as regent forever.

Isabel did not fare much better at the council meetings either. They usually bored her out of her mind, though he couldn't fully blame her, for Lord Francis, who typically presided over the meetings, could put anyone to sleep. She had tried to be involved with the discussions regarding the plans for building a new town in southern Jardinia, but she had little interest in fully understanding the economic reasons behind building it.

However she always paid rapt attention when the council discussed the recent alliance between Lavigne and the Inhget kingdom of Fier, knowing that it may have implications for her in the future. Lavigne's Queen Adaline was going to marry Prince Ioan of Fier, younger brother of King George of Fier. Ioan had travelled to the Foretlands a few years ago, visiting all the kingdoms, and making quite a name for himself with his vast knowledge of trade and politics. In fact, he proved quite valuable to the new queen of Lavigne, who had little experience on the throne, having to ascend before she was quite ready due to her father's untimely passing. She was of age though, being only a few years older than Isabel, and there had been no call for a regent. But the discord at the Lavignian court may have torn the kingdom apart if Ioan had not graciously stepped in with much advice. It was no wonder that Adaline had proposed marriage.

And then came Prince Andrei, the youngest brother of George and Ioan. He travelled all over the Foretlands, serving as an Inghet ambassador, and he set up many connections and helped negotiate trade relations between many Inghet and Foret kingdoms. Prince Henri suspected that Andrei might have even more potential as ruler than his brother did. He was certainly very charming and charismatic. The entire Jardinian council was quite taken with him, though Lord Francis remained a little wary. Prince Henri had high hopes that Andrei might be to Jardinia what Ioan was to Lavigne. After all, Jardinia was a much larger kingdom than Lavigne with many more towns and villages and landlords to manage, and needed a stronger hand.

The trouble was, of course, Isabel. At first, she had shown considerable interest in meeting him, when his reputation had preceded him to the Foretlands. But not long after meeting him, she became rude and scornful and rebuffed him at every opportunity. She was proving to be much more difficult than he had ever anticipated. For the hundredth time, he wished his wife, the late queen, were still alive.

* * *

Miel found Isabel holed up in her private corner of the library, poring over a book. A few weeks ago, an entire shipment of books from the Inghetlands had arrived, and Isabel had promptly began to devour them. She was constantly telling Miel to do the same; she never seemed to comprehend why Miel could not develop a similar passion for books.

Miel was Isabel's chief lady-in-waiting, and pretty much her only friend. That too, only because they had grown up together. Miel's parents had earned their title through services to the queen, and after their untimely death, the royal family took her in. They were very kind to her, and ensured she had access to the same education and opportunities that the princess had, but Miel grew up under Isabel's shadow, and had not had much chance to flourish.

"Lord Francis can be so aggravating!" Isabel complained as soon as she noticed Miel.

"What's happened now?" Miel asked, taking a seat.

"I have been telling him that we need to improve education in Jardinia, because my people are stupid and illiterate." She enunciated the last two adjectives with quite the force. "You should come to court one day," she said, disparagingly. "Even the lords have not an ounce of sense in their heads; I wonder what the commoners must be like!"

"And Lord Francis does not agree?"

"Well, he doesn't disagree." Isabel rolled her eyes. "He says we do not have the time or budget to worry about education." She frowned. "But I thought he said our finances were in good shape at the last council meeting. Although I didn't understand anything else he said." She thought for a moment and then added, "I think I'm going to remove him from the council when I am queen."

Isabel realized Miel had no interest in discussing Lord Francis, and felt disgruntled. "So why were you looking for me?"

"Oh, the seamstress has arrived, and is waiting with new dresses," Miel explained. Of course, Isabel remembered, she had to pick a dress for Adaline's wedding, and followed Miel out of the library.

"Just like Adaline to hold a lavish wedding to celebrate handing over her sovereignty to her husband," commented Isabel, shaking her head, as they made their way down the stairs.

Miel pursed her lips. She was on quite good terms with Adaline and did not like it when Isabel spoke too dismissively of her, but this was interesting news.

"Prince Ioan will be king of Lavigne?"

"So it seems," Isabel responded as they entered the chamber where the seamstress waited.

The dress fitting went about as well as usual. After Isabel nitpicked every dress that was brought, the seamstress got a sense of what would make Isabel satisfied. The next time she would come with a single dress that Isabel would struggle to find faults with and then concede to wear it.

After it was done, and they returned to the princess's chambers, both girls received a surprise. Someone had left a bouquet of red roses on the table. Isabel's jaw actually dropped, as she picked up the bouquet to examine it closely.

"Whom are these from?" she asked and Miel shrugged.

"Well then ask the servants," she ordered impatiently, turning her attention back to the bouquet. It couldn't be from Prince Andrei, could it? He had been trying for the past few weeks, quite unsuccessfully she might add, to court her. But the bouquet had no note, so it could not have been him.

Miel returned with one of Isabel's maids, the girl with the burn on her face. Isabel looked away. She always felt uncomfortable looking at the girl's scar.

She curtsied and said, "I found the bouquet left in your sitting room, so I brought it inside. I didn't see anyone bring it, your highness, but the gardener was in earlier to tend to the plants in there."

"Thank you Lisette," said Miel, dismissing the girl and turned to look at Isabel. She would not be happy about this.

"Miel, please accompany me to the garden," Isabel bid her calmly. "We need to pay Christien a visit."

Miel prayed Christien would stick to his place. She recalled that he had been rather bold recently in addressing the princess ever since his promotion to head gardener.

As they approached, Christien looked up from the bushes, walked over and bowed deeply.

"Good afternoon, Princess, Lady Miel."

"Good afternoon, Christien, I trust the garden is well?" Isabel's tone was casual and conversational.

Christien smiled. "Yes, Princess, all the rose bushes have come in full bloom by now," he said proudly.

Isabel drew herself up. "Christien, I have been meaning to ask you – why does the garden have such a high proportion of red roses this year? You know my mother was partial to white roses."

Christien was surprised by the question. "But you are partial to red roses," he said confidently, "I thought-"

"It doesn't matter what you thought," she snapped. "The garden is now in my mother's memory, and it should look just the way she had always kept it."

Christien's face was impassive. "As you wish, Princess, we shall start over."

"And one more thing," Isabel continued. "I found a bouquet of roses in my sitting room today. Do you know anything about it?"

"The roses are all in full bloom, so I thought you might like them," he replied quietly.

"You presume too much," Isabel told him coldly. "Be careful that you don't overstep your boundaries." With that, she walked away, her skirts rustling in the grass, and Miel following in her wake, thinking that it could have gone worse.

"Well what a way to crush the poor young man's heart!"

The girls turned around to see who made the angry comment. It was the old woman who would inexplicably show up in the garden from time to time.

"You again!" cried Isabel. "I have told you hundreds of times that the garden isn't open to the public!"

"No need to throw me out, Princess," said the old lady. "I'll leave by myself."

Isabel was positively fuming as she watched the mysterious woman walk away.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The kingdom of Lavigne celebrated Queen Adaline's wedding for a whole week. This was not unexpected. The Lavignian court was well known for its frequent balls and celebrations and the wine and the musicians.

Isabel and Miel had attended many of these celebrations since they were children, given the proximity of Lavigne and Jardinia, and the children of various nobles all over the Foretlands were often in attendance as well. But Isabel was not wildly popular among her peers, being well known for her sharp tongue and judgmental attitude. Isabel in turn held them in contempt for their lack of academic interest or for their shallow pursuits of balls and finery. Miel was much better liked, though she was rather shy and did not make many friends. However, she was an accomplished musician, and she would always be asked to sing and play at every celebration.

Miel was specifically requested to be present for all seven days of the wedding celebration. Isabel was too, of course, but she had felt that she needed to stay by her father's side to show him she was serious about her future duties, and attended only the last three days. Miel was somewhat disappointed, because the musician in her loved the environment in Lavigne, but she knew Isabel would be angry if she attended the full celebration without her.

But Isabel was also keen to avoid Prince Andrei. She was deliberately rude to him, but he was intent on pursuing her. Of course, Isabel saw right through his act.

When Andrei first travelled to the Foretlands, she had been very eager to meet him. His reputation had preceded him, and she had heard many praises of his many accomplishments. In truth, she had been excited to meet a young man who was knowledgeable, intelligent and a natural leader, unlike the greedy and frivolous young nobles with whom she grew up. Naturally, he had come to Lavigne first, given his brother had all but settled down there, and naturally there was a celebration in his honor.

Of course, he would be interested in her, Isabel had thought. She was far more intelligent and beautiful than any woman in any of the Foret courts. And she was right. He was definitely interested in her. But she was wrong, because he was actually interested in Jardinia. He was full of insincere flattery and he took her for a fool. Isabel felt conflicted at first. On one hand, young men were usually not very attentive of her. Despite her beauty, they were wary of her temper. But on the other hand, why would she want the attention that was directed at her crown and not herself?

When Andrei visited Jardinia, half the court fell in love with his wit and charm immediately, and the other half gradually followed. She found that she resented him. In fact, she had started to feel intimidated by how knowledgeable he was of Foret politics and commerce. She tried to make it clear through her cold behavior that she wanted nothing to do with him, but his persistence only made her hate him more. She knew why he was not so easily discouraged. She was the only unmarried female heir to a Foret throne for the foreseeable future.

What made it worse was that her father was fully in support of the match, and would constantly drop hints that she should consider it herself. And just as she had feared, he was hoping that there might be an announcement out of Adaline's wedding.

All the Foret kings and queens were in attendance, but given the nature of the union, many heads of Inghet kingdoms were also present. They were all kings. Inghet kingdoms were only allowed to have male sovereigns, and Isabel was glad that she hadn't been born there. Her father was anxious to introduce her to King George, Andrei and Ioan's brother, ruler of the kingdom of Fier. She thought he was nice enough, though quiet and serious like Ioan, very different from Andrei. But she thought his wife was rather dull mostly because she looked bored and barely spoke two words.

Isabel found she was not enjoying the wedding at all. She avoided the dance floor to avoid Andrei and she avoided the refreshment tables because all the monarchs were now asking her about her apparently imminent engagement to Andrei. She found herself hiding in corners, and then she felt very angry. Why would she accept being reduced to hiding? She would have to settle the matters once and for all.

He had left the dance floor awhile to stand in a corner with a glass of vintage Lavignian wine, surrounded by a group of admiring noble women. He was describing its exquisite taste and they were hanging on to his every word. Personally, Isabel thought that all wine tasted atrocious; but mostly she scoffed at the foolish girls who were swooning over his glib compliments. He wasn't exactly handsome per se, but there was something magnetic about his personality that she could not quite put her finger on.

"Princess Isabel!" Andrei exclaimed, grinning widely as he noticed her approach. "I have been looking for you all evening. You now owe me many dances."

Isabel scowled at him as he walked up to her. "No, my Prince, I do not."

"Now, why such hostility?" He was speaking quite loudly and Isabel could hear the girls laughing behind him.

"Because I want you to leave me alone," she announced, raising her voice so much, that everyone around them turned to look. "I do not wish to dance with you, I do not wish to sit next you at the dinner table, and I certainly do not wish to marry a drunkard like you."

The music had stopped and everyone was staring at them. Isabel felt herself flush. Andrei was looking at her with his eyes narrowed and a hard expression on his face. He was visibly angry, but he did not say anything. Isabel fled to the garden. Across the room, Prince Henri sat down on a chair and buried his face in his hands.

* * *

Needless to say, Isabel left the celebrations early, and dragged Miel back with her. And needless to say, the following day, she had a huge row with her father.

"You had to make such a fool of yourself?" He shouted at her.

"Well I hope I made a bigger fool of him," she said defiantly.

"What were you thinking?"

"Well, I had to tell him outright, didn't I?" She shouted back. "He was not taking any of my rather overt hints!"

Prince Henri drew a huge breath. "Isabel, why would you refuse him? It is the right time for you to marry and there can be no better suitor."

"Why, because he can be the perfect ruler that you are dreaming about?" She asked angrily. "Princess Isabel can't ever negotiate a treaty right, can she? Princess Isabel does not understand the budget!" She went on, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "She is weakling like Adaline, who needs a husband to do her job for her."

"Isabel, I will not be spoken to in this manner," her father warned her.

"And I do not wish to be spoken to at all," she threw back at him and stalked off.

She paced the length of the palace trying to calm herself down. Her head was throbbing and she had an urge to rush into the kitchen and start breaking all the china. Instead she went out to the gardens. It was evening and the sky was gloomy and threatened rain. The gardeners had probably left by now.

She paced among the rose bushes, hoping the scent would be soothing. Her dress got caught in the thorns and the skirt ripped completely when she tried to yank it. Her mood was at its foulest when she turned around and found the old woman, picking roses, yet again.

"Hey," she yelled. "I have had enough of you. I will have you locked up for trespassing!"

To her surprise, the old woman laughed.

"You," she said, her eyes flashing, "are a truly horrible person."

Isabel opened her mouth to shout, but the woman continued, "You are rude, inconsiderate, arrogant, contemptuous, and very unkind." She counted off on her fingers. "I think you need to be taught a lesson."

There was something different about the woman. She seemed almost magical.

Isabel was suddenly frightened and took a step back. "Who are you?" she asked. "What do you want?"

But the woman ignored her question. "I think you are not fit to be a ruler. The people would suffer far too much from you. You need to step aside so someone far better can take your place, someone whose heart's desire is to do good to your kingdom."

"No!" Isabel screamed.

"And you need to be as ugly on the outside and you are on the inside," finished the old woman, grinning widely. Then she transformed into a fairy and aimed both hands at Isabel.

All of a sudden Isabel felt her skin crawl, her bones ache and her head pound. She screamed and writhed in agony. And then she realized her skin was getting covered in fur. Her nails were growing into claws. She touched her face and felt the fur. She screamed in horror and tore at her hair and pounded on the floor.

Then she heard someone come running.

"Princess, are you alright?" It was Christien. "Are you hurt?"

"Stay away!" She screamed before he could get too close. "Don't come near me!"

"I only wish to help," he protested.

"Fetch Miel." He hesitated. "Now!" she screamed.

She curled up into a ball on the ground and realized it had started to rain heavily. She cried hard, her wails muffled by the downpour, until Miel came to take her inside.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Isabel did not leave her bed for days. She refused to eat, she refused to bathe, and she did not want any of her attendants around. She lay in bed and cried, sometimes crying herself into a restless sleep. Her father tried to see her many times, but she refused to let anyone in. Miel tried her best to explain to the regent what had transpired, but Isabel had not fully explained it even to her. They questioned Christien, but all he could say was that he heard shouting and when he arrived at the scene, the princess was curled up on the ground screaming in agony.

Isabel finally conceded to let her father visit, but even though Miel had tried to explain her physical transformation to him, it was a severe shock to Prince Henri to see his daughter covered in fur. For her sake, he tried to remain calm. He sat down by her bed, and moved to take her hand in his, but she drew it back, and he felt another wave of shock as he noticed the claws.

"My dearest daughter, how did this happen?" he asked, perplexed.

Isabel burst into tears again, but through her sobs she told them about the old woman who always picked her roses and when she tried to throw her out one last time, the woman transformed into a fairy and turned her into some kind of a furry creature.

"She did this because you wanted to throw her out for trespassing?" Prince Henri asked in disbelief.

"I don't know," his daughter wept. "She also accused me of being rude and unkind and uncompassionate and many other vices."

Henri gingerly put a hand on her shoulder and tried to comfort her. "She must have placed some kind of curse on you," he said. "I will send my men out to the Forest to search for her. Maybe we can convince her to change you back." Isabel felt a small grain of hope taking shape in her mind.

* * *

Prince Henri sent many of his men to search for the fairy, but a fairy can never be found unless she wants to be found, and the men searched for days without any success. Meantime, Isabel's condition grew worse. Her absence was noticed at court and Henri told her she was very ill and confined to bed. She refused to let any of her attendants into her chambers, so they had to be reassigned to other positions in the palace. There were many whispers among the staff regarding the mysterious illness, but no one knew the real details. And Isabel was discovering that this curse had not only altered her appearance, but it was making it very difficult to control her temper.

If she ever gave in to the frustration she felt, she found herself raging uncontrollably and tearing up her pillows and bed hangings. Once she almost attacked the maid who brought her food and insisted she eat something. Isabel was angry that Miel had allowed the maid to enter, but then she was distraught by her uncontrollable reaction. Miel tried to explain that she could not possibly take care of Isabel all on her own, and since the maid had already seen her, Isabel agreed to let her attend to them. She was the girl with the burned scar, and Isabel found that given her own appearance had become so revolting, she no longer felt uncomfortable by the girl's burn marks.

Christien also attempted to call upon her, and inquired after her health many times. Isabel was not sure if he had caught a glimpse of her that day amidst the downpour, but she flat-out refused to see him. She could feel herself beginning to feel angry, but she resolved to try very hard to keep her temper in check, because she would not let herself turn into a ferocious beast. But she still refused to leave her room.

Prince Henri sat at his desk, pulling at his hair, at a loss regarding what was to become of his daughter and her kingdom. She had informed him that she no longer wished to see people and she no longer wishes to rule. She had given up hope that that the fairy would be found. As he sat there worrying, he was surprised to receive notice that Prince Andrei had arrived. He had completely forgotten that he had been due to visit Jardinia soon.

Henri considered telling Andrei it was not a good time for discussing trade agreements, but then he decided that he needed to focus on other matters instead of worry interminably about Isabel. So he summoned the council to meet with Andrei and discuss their plans. Then he asked Andrei to join him for a ride in the countryside. He felt calmer when he was around the young man, and for some reason felt that he could trust him. He found himself telling Andrei all his troubles, trusting him with the truth about Isabel's condition, of which he had not even told the council. The young man's concern did a lot to relieve his stress. Isabel was a fool to have refused him.

Henri had apologized profusely for Isabel's behavior, but Andrei did not seem to be holding it against him. In fact, now he seemed eager to be of service to Prince Henri and even offered to join the search for the fairy. However, he searched for days too, and was just as unsuccessful as the rest of the Jardinian soldiers.

"I suppose you are rather lucky my daughter refused you," Henri joked bitterly. "You may have found yourself stuck with a reclusive beast."

"But perhaps I may have been able to do more to help you with your duties," replied Andrei thoughtfully. "As it is, I am scheduled to be in Ligne in a few days."

Henri sighed. "Andrei," he said. "I sincerely believed that you would have been the perfect candidate to govern Jardinia. It would have given me a great deal of peace to leave the kingdom in your hands."

"I am truly humbled to hear you say that, your majesty," replied Andrei in wonder. "It would have been a great honor to have been ruler of Jardinia."

Henri hesitated to say what he had been thinking about lately. "What if… Isabel could be persuaded to change her mind…?"

Andrei looked taken by surprise at the question.

"I'm sorry," the regent apologized. "It is too much to ask of you to marry someone with her affliction."

"Your majesty," responded Andrei, interrupted him. "I mean it when I say it would be a great honor to rule Jardinia, no matter what may be my wife's appearance."

* * *

Princess Isabel laughed when she heard the proposition. Prince Henri had been nervous to bring it to her, but he counted on the fact that she was past caring.

"He really will never give up, will he?" she asked.

"My dear, since you refuse to take the throne now, why not leave it in the hands of someone capable?"

She screamed for him to leave the room.

But he was back the next day and the next, every time reminding her that she at least had a duty to make sure there was someone else ruling in her place. Finally, Isabel gave in.

"Very well, Father, you may do as you wish. I will marry Prince Andrei, as long as I am never required to see him or spend time with him, and definitely never be expected to bear his children."

"But if you have no children, who will inherit the kingdom?" her father asked.

"I am sure you will have a solution for that too," she replied uncooperatively.

Oh well, one hurdle at a time.

* * *

Andrei did not give up his search for Delphine. After many attempts, she finally showed herself.

"Where have you been all this time?" he asked angrily. "You told me you were going to help!"

"Andrei, I am so sorry," replied a very remorseful Delphine. "I did not cast the curse correctly, so I was hiding because I was afraid you would be angry at me."

"What did you do?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

After his brother's wedding, Andrei had ridden to the Forest to clear his mind. He was extremely angry and had felt humiliated by Isabel in front of the guests.

Delphine would usually come to him whenever he was in the Forest, taking the appearance of a beautiful young woman. Indeed, she took the form of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, far more beautiful than Princess Isabel, whose appearance he had to admit was rather appealing, no matter how rotten her attitude was.

Delphine had been patient and listened to him recount the events of the evening. She was already privy to his ambitions of becoming king. He had set his mind on Jardinia because he could marry into the position. He had no hope of obtaining a ruling position in the Inghetlands, being the third son, and Inghet laws would not give him the opportunity to marry into the throne.

Delphine had taken great pleasure to tell him how much she despised Isabel as well. She had been nothing but rude to her, when she visited the rose gardens.

"I wish I could punish her," she had lamented.

"Why don't you?"

"I am not allowed to perform magic on humans, unless it is to curse or bless them at another human's request."

An idea had occurred to Andrei. "What kind of curse can you put on her?"

The plan had been to curse the princess to make her take on the appearance of a beast. Then Andrei would swoop in to the rescue. He would find a way to "break the curse", but in fact Delphine would simply lift the curse. Then the princess would have no choice but to accept his hand in marriage. It was custom in the Foretlands to give your rescuer what they wanted, especially if the damsel in distress was a princess.

"What did you do?" Andrei asked again.

"I cast the curse wrong," Delphine replied in a small voice. "It became tied to your heart's desire – your desire to be king."

"What does that mean?" Andrei frowned.

"It means I cannot lift the curse," she said. "I'm really sorry, Andrei."

The prince sighed.

"No matter," he said. "The curse still turned the tide in my favor. The princess has agreed to marry me."

"She has?" Delphine asked in amazement.

"Yes, she no longer cares who rules her kingdom. She stays holed up in her chambers all day, and being married to me would make no difference to her," he explained. "Well, she will marry me with the condition that I will never see her or approach her, which works just as well for me."

"But then how will you have heirs?"

"When I am king, I shall find a way to ensure I have heirs. I will figure something out."

Delphine smiled. "Andrei, I am so happy you were able to get your heart's desire despite my mistake. I have failed to repay my debt to you."

Andrei chuckled. "Well, then I shall come back to collect it some other time," he said, getting up to leave.

"Wait," called Delphine. "There was just one thing you should keep in mind. Do not let the princess ever come into the Forest."

"I doubt she ever will, but why?"

"I drew from the magic of the Forest to cast the curse, so being in the Forest may affect her negatively."

"Very well then," he said. He would keep it in mind, but it was very unlikely that the princess would ever leave her chambers.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Minor updates made to Chapter 3. Also, explanation for the curse getting tied to Andrei's desire to be king: This is what the fairy thinks has happened; she didn't manage to cast it right. So this should mean that if Andrei were to give up the throne and leave Jardinia, the curse will break. But it's probably more complicated than that. :) Please leave more feedback!**

 **Chapter 4**

Not longer after the queen of Lavigne married an Inghet prince, the princess of Jardinia followed suit. But as if not to compete with the pomp and blare of the first wedding, the second one eschewed all celebrations. This undoubtedly led to many disappointments within the kingdom of Jardinia, and many speculated at the rushed and quiet wedding. The princess's mysterious illness only made the rumors worse, but Prince Henri thought it best not to address them. Isabel, due to her isolation, never really found out about them.

Those that were present at the ceremony said they had never been to a more depressing wedding or seen a more listless bride. It was as if she was not even present in mind. She was heavily veiled and covered which was rather unusual for her, and the guests wondered if she was trying to adopt Inghet customs. Lady Miel sang for the occasion, but even the joyous tunes she attempted to sing sounded melancholy.

Isabel went straight back to her chambers after the ceremony. She only wanted to be left alone in her misery. She had always known that she was beautiful, and had on occasion indulged in finery that accentuated her beauty. But she had not been exceedingly vain about it, not about her beauty, at least. Now that she had ample time to think, she had to admit that she was a tad arrogant in that she considered herself to be far more intelligent and accomplished than any other young lady (or lord) in the Foretlands. But with the princes of Fier, she knew she could not compare. They were shrewd and cunning and ambitious, and perhaps they were going to take over the Foretlands from the inside. A small voice in the back of her mind kept pressing her to not give up, but she felt very little interest in life now that she looked like this. Losing her beauty could perhaps have been something she could have lived with, but being covered in fur was a different matter altogether.

She had not paid too much attention to the details of the marriage contract. She had told her father he could do as he pleased. It sounded like it was similar to the one between Queen Adaline and Prince Ioan, who was now King Ioan. Upon Isabel's coronation as queen, Henri would step down as regent, the sovereignty would pass to Andrei and he would be crowned king. The thought made Isabel's blood boil and she seemed to wake up a little from the stupor she had been in over the past few weeks.

Isabel's thoughts were interrupted as her maid Lisette came to help her undress from her elaborate wedding gown that covered every inch of her body. Miel had to remain behind to attend to the guests.

"If I may be so bold, your highness," spoke Lisette, "It is quite woeful that you should be so miserable on your wedding day." Isabel made a soft derisive sound. "You should not give up hope that the curse may yet be broken," the maid insisted.

"I do not see how if we can't find the fairy," Isabel said in despair. "I have been told that the search has been called off."

"But there are other ways to break curses. Haven't you heard all the stories?"

"But they are just stories, Lisette."

As she helped Isabel into her night gown, the princess wondered that she had grown so comfortable with a mere maid. But yet, there was so much she didn't know about her.

"Lisette," she asked as the maid started to brush her hair. "Would you mind if I asked you how you got that scar?"

"Not at all, your highness," Lisette said, surprised and a little touched by the personal question. "It happened in a fire." Her eyes grew cloudy. "It was shortly after my wedding when the house caught on fire. I managed to get away, but my face was hit with a piece of burning wood. My arm was burned too," she said, pulling up her sleeves to show the burn on her arm.

Isabel felt her chest tighten with sympathy as she imagined how it must feel if this happened to her.

"What happened to your husband?"

"He was not home," she said, her face darkening. "He was unharmed." Lisette was quiet for some time and then she added. "He blamed me for the fire. You see, it started while I was cooking, but I was never sure what caused it. He left me soon after. He didn't want a wife with this scar."

"Lisette, I am so sorry," she said quietly. "Were you married very young?" she asked. Lisette looked like she was some years younger than she was herself.

"Yes, and not for very long," she replied, now tying up the princess's braid in a tight knot.

"But I am grateful to have found work at the palace, where no one cares much about my appearance," she smiled. "Your highness, I have no hope that I will get back my old face, but please do not give up hope that you will get back yours."

Surprising even herself, Isabel took the maid's hand in hers and squeezed it, careful not to scratch her with her talons.

* * *

Over the next few days, Isabel felt a little more like herself, though she was largely despondent. She asked Miel to bring her books from the library and stayed in bed reading, but the books really helped to take her mind off her despair. She began to think back to that night in the garden and tried to remember what the fairy had said. It seemed the fairy was angry at her for being unkind.

Maybe if she were kind to the fairy, she would change her back. She started to go out to the rose garden in hopes of seeing the fairy, or the old woman, whichever form she may be in. But there was no sign of her. She felt uncomfortable in front of the gardeners who stared at her attire, wondering what had come over her; and it was rather uncomfortable to be so heavily veiled in the summer heat. Thankfully, Christien was there to tell them off for not focusing on their work, and Isabel was grateful.

As Miel had pointed out, if she wished to be kinder, she could start with Christien and stop turning him away when he came to inquire after her. So Isabel walked with him in the garden, asking him to show her the work they had been doing. They had planted all varieties of roses now, with a greater abundance of the white and pink her mother had favored. And Isabel felt herself smile a little, not that anyone could see it through her veil.

Christien noticed how listless she still was, and his heart ached for her. He knew something horrible had happened to her, but he had not seen the full extent of it.

"Princess, it pains me to see you so miserable," he said, his sentiments echoing Lisette's, Isabel thought. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Chrisitien," began Isabel. "You were there that night. How much do you know of what happened?"

"I did not see the old woman that night," he said. "But I have seen her in the garden before, although I do not believe she has been back since. I could not see what had happened to you, only that you were in pain."

Isabel nodded. "I never thanked you for being there and fetching Miel for me. Please know that I am truly grateful."

She looked around her to ensure the other gardeners were not close by. "I think I should tell you what happened. I was cursed. I was physically altered. This is why I wear the veil now. And I am no longer fit to rule my kingdom any longer. That is why I had to marry Prince Andrei, so he could rule in my stead."

"I knew the rumors weren't true!" exclaimed Christien.

"What rumors?" she asked, confused.

"That you are with his child," said Christien, surprised that she didn't know.

"Oh," gasped Isabel, shocked. And then to his surprised, she laughed. "What a ridiculous notion! I would never let that man near me!"

Christien laughed softly with her. "I am glad I could make you laugh at least. They have also been saying that you wear the veil now to honor Inghet customs."

Isabel laughed again. Even in the Inghetlands only the very religious wore the veil, though Jardinians tended to have the misconception that they all did. Chrisiten felt his spirits rise.

"But can the curse not be broken?" he asked.

"I don't know. It seems unlikely that we will ever find the fairy again. Will you speak to her, if you see her again?"

"Yes, of course, I will," he promised. "I will convince her to lift the curse."

Curious, thought Isabel as she walked back to her chambers, that she had made friends with both her maid and her gardener.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Over the next few days, Isabel made an effort to be kinder to everyone. Of course, this forced her to leave her chambers more often, and she was still wary of speaking with the palace staff who would look confused about why she was so heavily draped and asking them about their day. She of course had the most luck with Lisette and Christien, and had started to consider both as friends. Now that she had started to take an interest in other people, Miel had more time to herself. Isabel encouraged her to attend the next ball at Lavigne even though she had declined the invitation herself, because she knew Miel enjoyed them immensely. But lately, Miel seemed a little despondent and did not wish to talk about it.

There was still no sign of the fairy, but as the summer wore on, Isabel gradually started to feel more and more curious about what was going on in her kingdom. Her father gave her bits and pieces of news when he visited, but he was visiting less frequently these days, and evidently spending more time with Andrei.

Miel said Andrei spent a great deal of time in the library, and Prince Henri would regularly join him there and the two would discuss politics at length. Isabel scoffed, angry at the thought how eager her father had been to replace her. She took a deep breath to control the urge to tear apart her pillows again.

She tried a new approach and decided to spy on the two men in the library. Nobody knew the library as well as she did, and she knew how to get to the upper levels without being noticed and how to remain there without notice.

Andrei and Henri often discussed the new town that they had started to build in the south. They discussed excitedly about building forges and that the town was to be a home for blacksmiths and ironsmiths. But Isabel also picked up that lords of the southern villages were bringing many complaints about the building of the new town. She began to feel great interest to find out more.

She was surprised though at how much time Andrei spent at the library, and she knew it would be a matter of time before he discovered the upper levels, but she still stayed there and observed what kinds of books he read. They were usually thick tomes on law and trade and commerce in which she had never felt any interest, and he would take copious notes from them. But she was also surprised to discover he liked to read poetry and he would often put down the book he was reading and wander over to the poetry section.

And as it turned out, she found, he often joined Miel in the conservatory adjoining the library whenever she played. Isabel and Miel had both taken lessons together as children in singing and various instruments, but when Isabel realized that Miel would far surpass her in musical talent, she promptly gave up on all instruments. Prince Andrei enjoyed Miel's music, it seemed. No wonder Miel never seemed to like it whenever she made disparaging comments about Andrei.

In fact, she recalled, Andrei had accompanied Miel to the most recent festivities at Lavigne. He visited his brother from time to time and attended many of the Lavignian events and had been quite happy to have Miel come with him during the last trip.

She could not properly hear what they were discussing from where she was sitting; she only picked up on a mention of some kind of offer that Miel seemed reluctant to discuss with Isabel. Something had been bothering Miel and she had been rather dejected recently. She would just have to press the girl for details later.

Lisette in the meantime had been working with the seamstress to make a special veil for Isabel that didn't hide her face so much. Isabel liked it a lot. You could still see her face through it, and though it looked darker, you couldn't tell that it was covered in fur. She had also discovered that Lisette barely knew how to read, making her feel appalled about what was taught in the schools of her kingdom. She began to teach the girl how to read and introduced her to many of her favorite books.

She also visited the gardens frequently and Lisette often came with her. Christien was always glad to walk with them, and he often brought them news from outside the palace. He told them about how well loved Andrei was by the people.

"Do you think he is a compassionate leader?" Isabel asked him one day.

"I suppose so," Christien replied uncertainly. "He has not shown any signs that he would be a harsh leader; and many already think they would much prefer him to Prince Henri. No offense intended, your highness."

"None taken," smiled Isabel.

"But he is certainly a most charismatic leader, and every time he addresses the people, they just naturally want to follow him," he mused.

Isabel was pleased to discover that Christien did not seem as taken in with Andrei as rest of the kingdom seemed to be.

She heard that he was planning to make an address at a village fair very soon, and she was curious to hear him speak. When she mentioned this to Christien, he suggested that she attend the fair in disguise as a commoner, and that he would gladly accompany her. Lisette thought it was a splendid idea, and she offered to come along as well.

She was rather excited as she found some plain clothes for Isabel to wear, and gave her pointers about how to behave in public. Isabel hoped she wouldn't have to interact too much with people. She worried her veil might make her conspicuous, but it wasn't uncommon for married village women to cover their faces, so Lisette said she could just pretend she was one.

The fair was being held to mark the end of the summer and the village was gearing up to prepare for the harvest that was coming up in a few months. Isabel had never been to a village fair before. She was enthralled by the liveliness and the music, and the festive spirit among the villagers and found she was really enjoying herself there. She bade Christien ask some of the villagers about how they felt about the new town that was being built not far from here. After he spoke with a few people, she gathered that they were afraid of the change. The new town, which had still not been named, was planned as one for smithies. There were very few blacksmiths or ironsmiths in Jardinia. The villagers weren't sure if they were ready to welcome such a town. Some of them had also complained to their lords about how the transportation of building materials had obstructed their daily activities, and Prince Henri had been receiving such complaints daily, but he was only telling the lords to have some patience.

Lisette wondered why this new town was being built at all. Isabel explained that the Foretlands had an agrarian economy and that iron and steel products had been imported from the Inghetlands for many years now. With the recent trade negotiations, the Foretlands wanted to import the iron ore directly and make their own steel. In fact, she recalled hearing many months back of the bloomeries that were being built for smelting iron at the very southern tip of Jardinia and Lavigne, in unused land that was shared by both kingdoms.

Neither Lisette nor Christien could understand what this would mean for Jardinia. Isabel herself did not fully understand the implications and could not properly explain, but that was what Andrei was coming to speak about.

There was a huge crowd at the fair, for people from the neighboring towns and villages had come to hear him speak. Isabel felt very nervous as she took her place in the crowd, though there was no reason to feel so; Andrei would never recognize her.

Christien was right. Andrei was exceptionally gifted as a speaker. He explained the rationale behind the new town much better than she could. He explained how making its own steel would give Jardinia a stronger economy. He spoke of the jobs and opportunities it would create and how the people would have the opportunity to make a better living. By the end of the speech, the crowd was cheering him loudly.

Isabel sighed as they walked away from the fair and sat down at an inn. She would never be able to speak like that or move people like that. Once when she had tried to speak to the townspeople outside the palace to get their opinion on one of father's new policies, they had seemed rather scared of her. They were quiet as they ate, but soon they could overhear the inn keeper's wife gossiping with some of her guests.

"Well, if the princess really is with child, I don't know why they don't just make a royal announcement!"

"You know, what if the child isn't even Prince Andrei's? I heard the princess hates him and doesn't ever give him the time of day."

"Oh no, no one could ever be good enough for our princess. Not even Prince Andrei."

Isabel was very still and tried very hard to not make a sound. She was immensely grateful for the veil, for they hid the tears that sprung to her eyes.

"I'm sure they don't know much about you at all," Lisette whispered to her, gently taking her arm.

"I never thought he wasn't good enough for me," Isabel said, trying to keep her voice even. "In fact, he is far too good for me," she continued, laughing bitterly through her tears. "He comes swooping down out of nowhere stealing my father and my kingdom with his unparalleled competence."

It was getting harder to control her sobs now, and Christien motioned to Lisette they should probably leave. Isabel was very quiet on the ride home and Lisette turned to look at her.

"If I may say something, your highness?" Lisette began. Isabel nodded. "You father and your kingdom are still yours. You won't lose them if you don't give them up." Isabel looked up in surprise at her words.

Lisette was right. She should not be giving up.

* * *

Isabel told Miel briefly about the events at the fair, and then proceeded to tell her the horrible things people were saying about her. Miel was shocked at the vile gossip, and tried her best to comfort the princess.

"But you have seemed troubled lately, Miel; why haven't you spoken to me about it?" she asked.

"You are going through enough right now, my princess; I do not wish to add to your troubles."

"Tell me," Isabel insisted.

Miel hesitated but then told her that during her visit to Lavigne, Queen Adaline had invited her to live at the palace to instruct the royal children, her younger siblings, in music while having the opportunity to perform with the most famous musicians in the Foretlands.

This must have been Miel's dream, Isabel thought. In fact, why had it never occurred to her to arrange something like this long ago? It was from selfish reasons, she realized. Until now, Miel had been the only friend she had.

"But my duty is here," Miel said. "I should not feel it is my place to go."

"Oh Miel, is this why you have been so unhappy?" Isabel asked.

"I have not been unhappy," Miel started to protest, but Isabel interrupted. "Anyone could see that you have been. I am grateful that you did not wish to leave me. Indeed, I do not wish for you to go."

"Then I shall not," Miel affirmed.

"No, Miel," Isabel said, taking her hand, "I am sorry I have been difficult with you in the past, but I am not going to be selfish any more. If you truly wish to go to Lavigne, you have my blessing and support."

Miel looked at her in disbelief and then quite uncharacteristically embraced her. Isabel was rather taken aback, but not altogether displeased. "I shall miss you," she whispered.

 **A/N: Hope this chapter wasn't too tedious! I needed to introduce some points that will come up later... Please drop a line about what you think so far!**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm back! This was a tough chapter! So much so, that I took a break and worked on another story! I had to rework chapter 5 a little bit to make them fit. But hopefully the rest will be completed in a reasonable amount of time! Please leave your feedback!**

 **Chapter 6**

After Miel's departure, Prince Henri wondered if he should find Isabel a new lady-in-waiting, but she said she would prefer to have just Lisette wait on her. Lisette had become more of a handmaiden than a maid by now. Over the past few days, she had thought a lot about what Lisette had told her about not giving up on her father or her kingdom, and she began to ponder how she was to do it. Would she start attending court again? Or council meetings? Lisette, who had become her confidante as she thought out loud, suggested that she could perhaps start by visiting her father and Andrei in the library, instead of simply spying on them.

It took Isabel many attempts at strengthening her resolve enough to approach them in the library, where they sat after dinner with a glass of wine each, talking.

"Isabel?" asked Prince Henri in surprise. He had not seen her in days. Andrei looked just as surprised, but he stood up in way of greeting.

"I thought I might sit with you?" she mumbled.

"Of course," Henri replied happily. "Please join us." Isabel took a seat to his right, as Andrei sat down again, looking very cautious. "We were only talking about our visit to the building site of the new town to see the progress on the constructions of the road," her father said, and proceeded to give her details. Isabel listened with some interest, but she found she could not have a free conversation with her father with Andrei present. She could think of nothing intelligent or insightful to say, so she remained silent. Her father asked her questions about how she was spending her days, to which she gave very clipped responses, and then finally excused herself and ran back to her room. She recounted to Lisette how awkward it had been, and she almost decided she had no intention of trying again.

But there was no point waiting around for the curse to break anymore. She had to try to get her life back, and she was determined to try to be polite and courteous about it. Her father was happy to see her again when she joined them the next day, but all attempts at conversation were stilted. She could not quite forgive him for his clear preference for Andrei, though she grudgingly admitted he had some solid grounds for it, and affected no warmth in her interactions with him. She avoided speaking with Andrei altogether, and it seemed he was doing the same, though Prince Henri made some attempts to get them to talk.

She was actually surprised by how uncomfortable he seemed in her presence. Of course she had known that all his previous flattery and flirtations had simply been an act, so was this the real him? Or maybe he was bothered by her being so heavily veiled? Or perhaps he felt some contrition for taking advantage of her cursed situation to get what he wanted? At any rate, she was glad that he maintained a respectful distance, and addressed her very formally when he had to. On the third day, she felt comfortable enough to participate in the discussions, and stopped worrying about looking foolish in front of Andrei.

She still remembered the first time they had met, at a celebration in Lavigne. He had been trying to impress her from the start. He asked her to dance, paid her an abundance of compliments and only spoke with her about frivolous topics. She had actually tried to speak with him about the trade relations that he had been building, and she actually had made naïve comments that must have made her look foolish. Andrei had seemed very amused and seemed so dismissive of her opinions. She was very embarrassed, and thought it best to avoid him. But then she realized that she was determined to pursue her, even though he thought her foolish. He probably actually expected her to be foolish, or shallow and flippant, and thus her intense dislike of him began.

Now, it was strange to see the usually suave and confident young prince be so awkward around her. But one day, he did make a genuine attempt at conversation.

"I trust you are well, your highness?" He asked after she had walked into the library and realized to her dismay that her father was not present.

"As well as I can be," she responded in what she hoped was a good natured tone.

After an awkward silence, he ventured to ask, "You mentioned yesterday that you have been reading?" She nodded and turned her head to look at the book that he had put down. She didn't recognize it.

"May I ask what you have been reading?"

She had been reading some of her old favorites, mostly novels and many historical accounts of royal families, but she did not feel like sharing with him. But to be polite, she mentioned one title which gave an account of a long forgotten battle on the mountains. He said he had read it many years ago, but could not recall the specifics, and asked her if she would care to remind him.

He was genuinely trying to be nice to her, she realized with some surprise. Not that he had ever been anything but nice before, but it had never been sincere. So she obliged and recounted the events of the battle, and then it was evident to her that he clearly had not forgotten. She frowned. Was he just trying to make conversation or was he trying to make her look foolish again? It turned out they disagreed on the outcome of the battle, but she had read the book very thoroughly and knew what she was talking about. She held her ground and he claimed she should trust him since it had happened closer to his homeland. Isabel rolled her eyes beneath her veil. His smug demeanor was back. But for some reason, she felt more at ease now. And they had just had their first proper conversation.

She asked him what he was reading, for his book was lying by his chair. He showed it to her. It contained details of road building and had accounts of some of the bigger roads built in the Foretlands. He said he was trying to understand the process so he could have more informed conversations with the overseers of the construction. Isabel, as usual, felt very intimidated by his level of commitment, but it occurred to her now that Andrei worked really hard to have become as knowledgeable as he was. She was going to have to work hard too, in order to win back her kingdom.

* * *

Isabel began to look for books on ironworks and steel production. She decided she also wanted to understand the process better so she could fully appreciate the impact of the new bloomeries in the south. But the material was dense, and she could not follow half of it. This was going to be harder than she thought.

She had taken to coming to the library every day now. Her father and Andrei spent a great deal of time there, discussing affairs of the kingdom. She paid close attention to everything they said, and as her initial fear of sounding foolish gradually wore away, she began to ask a lot of questions, to understand what they were even talking about. Prince Henri usually deferred to Andrei to answer them, and he would always oblige. Sometimes he was somewhat patronizing in his explanations, especially when she asked basic questions, but most of the time he gave very thorough answers. Her father had never discussed matters in such detail with her before, in fact, she doubted he ever considered them so thoroughly by himself, and she had started to enjoy these meetings.

Andrei had warmed up to her considerably since their first proper conversation, and seemed much more at ease speaking to her. And the more they interacted, the more her dislike seemed to ebb. Still, she was glad when he visited Lavigne, which meant she could have the library to herself so she could carry on with her studies in there instead of carrying the heavy books back to her chambers. She had meant to leave before he returned, but had lost track of time. Andrei walked into the library after coming back from Lavigne and found her staring at a book. Her back was to him, but he could tell she had taken off her veil. He felt an urge to walk softly in front her, for he had been quite curious lately to see what she looked like, but decided against it and cleared his throat to announce his presence. Isabel jumped and scrambled to put on her veil.

Still extremely flustered, she stood up and nodded in greeting, and asked about his trip. It had been short and there was not much to tell, though he mentioned that Miel sent her regards. He walked up to her and inquired after her reading. Feeling self-conscious again, she explained she wanted more background on steel, but she didn't want to admit she was struggling with the material. He leaned over to look at the diagrams she was studying.

"This book is extremely dense though," he said frowning, "I could not follow it without consulting some scholars first."

"Oh," she said, feeling much better, but scooting away from him, as she became aware of his proximity. But then he had walked over to the shelves to bring back another volume that he said covered the material in a simpler way, and actually showed her the passages that would be the most helpful.

"I'm didn't think you would find steel so interesting," he said after a while. Isabel flushed, though thankfully he wouldn't be able to see that. She wouldn't admit to him she was trying to compete with him, though who knows how much she could possibly succeed at that. And was there a hint of teasing she detected in his voice.

"Well what with the recent developments, I thought some background would be helpful," she replied carefully. Andrei nodded and didn't say anything. "I do have a certain amount of interest in what goes on in my kingdom," she insisted.

"To be honest, I have not met many princesses who are interested in the kingdom's affairs," he replied. "I must admit," he said hesitantly, "I was taken by surprise when you started coming to the library."

"Well, I always used to come here before I-" she didn't finish the sentence. She gripped the corner of the book, and the pages were getting crumpled.

"Well, I better get going," said Andrei quickly. "I have to go to the council meeting now. I imagine we might be discussing the progress of the construction."

Isabel tilted her head to the side. "I'd like to come as well," she said.

"To the council meeting?" Andrei asked in surprise.

She nodded. "Yes, I used to attend those frequently as well." She had been thinking about going to one actually, but just couldn't manage to walk in to one by herself.

"Alright then," he said a little uncertainly, but then offered her his arm. Isabel hesitated for a moment before she took it. She was very nervous as they walked into the council room, and had to stop herself from gripping Andrei's arm tighter.

Her father and the rest of the council were immensely surprised when she walked in on Andrei's arm. The councilmen all stood up and the councilwomen (there were only two) immediately came up to her to inquire after her health. She assured them she was fine. They didn't seem convinced, perhaps because they could not understand why she had taken the veil. As she took a seat, she noticed that many council members were stealing glances at her belly. Of course, there was nothing to see there. Fools, the lot of them, she thought, scowling under her veil.

At the meeting Isabel discovered that Lord Francis was as dreary as ever. Andrei often interrupted him, and would start leading the meeting himself, which annoyed the lord immensely. This she found rather amusing and had to bite back laughter. There was a lot of talk about the new southern town and excitement over the impending industrialization, and all the reports sounded very encouraging. But one report in particular caught her attention. One of the landladies from a southern town had complained that the smoke from the bloomeries were turning her carriages very dirty when they passed by. Everyone else rolled their eyes and laughed, but Isabel wondered what would happen if they were to build more bloomeries, as was the plan, closer to the towns and villages.

She went back to the library after the meeting, and looked among the Inghet books that Andrei had brought with him. Some of them had accounts of difficulties faced by towns surrounding bloomeries where steel was made. She wondered if she should find her father and talk to him about it, but he would probably just ask her to speak with Andrei as he had been doing lately. At first she had been very annoyed by it and considered reminding him that he was to have no expectations that she would actually acknowledge her marriage. But on the other hand, she was learning a great deal from interacting with Andrei, and he would have better answers for her anyway.

When Andrei came to the library later, she spoke with him about it, and he said that was simply an unfortunate trade-off for greater wealth. He could sense she was not pleased by the answer. She said the comfort of her people should be the first priority and she began to list all the ways she had found that could inconvenience the townsfolk who would live in the southern town.

"Well," said Andrei, his eyebrows raised. "Some of these don't really apply to Jardinia do they?" She made an exasperated noise. He went into details about which problems were relevant and which weren't. "I suppose we can take measures to prevent these inconveniences, I can bring it up at the next council meeting."

She wasn't sure he would make it a priority, though. She made up her mind to start attending all the meetings from now on. She had to make her voice heard. Besides, if we wanted to get her kingdom back, she would need to start pulling more weight.

* * *

Andrei wasn't sure what to think of the recent developments. He had thought the princess would never come out of her seclusion. He really was very surprised at her evident interest in the affairs of the kingdom and her eagerness to participate. He had not missed the large change in her. She was more subdued, and significantly less haughty.

He felt a twinge of guilt for what he had caused. He hadn't intended for the condition to be permanent. But it had worked out in his favor, at least initially. When she confined herself to her chambers, it gave him all the opportunity he needed to make himself indispensable to Prince Henri and the council. He had managed to achieve what he had always dreamed of. But now, he worried that his position was threatened.

He had misjudged Isabel when he first met her, taking her to be like the frivolous ladies he met at the Lavignian court. Based on what he had heard about her, he did not expect she would jump at the opportunity of a political marriage like Adaline had, but her reputation had made him attribute it to her pride. He was determined to impress her and woo her, but his initial error in judgment set him back significantly. By the time he had realized she was different from everyone else, she had already taken an intense dislike to him.

Andrei had to admit he had acted somewhat childishly when he wanted to punish her for her behavior. He should have thought it through before asking that fairy to curse her. But how was he to know she would fail to do it properly? But still, he did manage to eventually win the kingdom. If she had elected to never speak with him, he would have been fine with that, but now she seemed to be putting aside her animosity and she seemed willing to work with him. She was receptive to everything he suggested and explained, and in fact, she was actually rather keen to learn from him, though she tried to hide it. And Andrei would never admit it, but he was a little bit flattered, and he actually liked talking to her, now that they had been having proper conversations.

He worried a little what it might all lead to, if she decided that she would renege on the earlier agreement and demand sovereignty upon coronation. He would need to come up with a plan to prevent that, he decided. But he couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt, especially when he witnessed how difficult it was for her to speak about her condition. For now, he owed her at least some compassion, and if she wanted to be involved with the council again, he resolved not to make her feel unwelcome.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter has too much description/exposition. There are lots of changes happening, and I wanted to get them out all at once instead of making a chapter out of each of them. I promise Chapter 8 will slow down and have actual things happen.**

 **Chapter 7**

Isabel's long absence had not done much to improve her standing with the council. In the past they had always been dismissive of her opinions, and Lord Francis always tried to tell her as politely as he could that her opinion was uninformed. But nobody, not even her father had ever bothered to help her rectify that. Isabel had known that the Foretlands were not as progressive as they appeared to be. Women were allowed to be landladies, heads of noble households, members of the royal council, and even the queen, but they were still expected to defer to the men to make actual decisions. The council and Prince Henri had always found Isabel troublesome because she constantly wanted to bring forth her own ideas instead of simply following what they decided.

However, having had time to reflect, Isabel now realized that she had been rather headstrong and stubborn in her opinions, getting upset when she was contradicted and had never put in sufficient effort to understand the full context of the issues brought up at the council. Andrei always knew what he was talking about, and she observed, some of her resentment still lingering, how seriously everyone took him. But she had also noticed a change in the behavior of the council. Now with someone charismatic and energetic leading the council, they were all motivated to take initiative. Lord Francis was no longer putting everyone to sleep. In fact, he seemed to be attending fewer meetings because he had been accused of mismanaging funds. Isabel had often wondered about this because every time she wanted to implement an idea, he would always tell her there was a lack of funds. In the recent few weeks, the council members had actually started to question him and monitor his transactions closely, leading him to claim that he was getting too old for council duties. He had served on the council since her grandfather's time, and it was through his recommendation that her mother had married Prince Henri. Perhaps Henri had never challenged Lord Francis out of a sense of loyalty, but Isabel had to be glad that at least Andrei had motivated the rest of the council to the task.

She continued to study more about the effects of industrialization, and fought with the council when she felt they were disregarding the townsfolk's interests. She argued that the expansion of the bloomeries should go further south, rather than towards the towns, even if that meant increased transportation costs. And this time she found that her arguments carried more weight, being well researched. At first her ideas had been turned down as if on a knee-jerk reaction, but Andrei was the one willing to hear her out. Once she had swayed him to her side, the rest of the council actually listened, and then were genuinely surprised that for once she knew what she was talking about.

Since the building of the bloomeries was a joint effort with Lavigne, it fell upon Andrei to convince the Lavignian council as well, though he seemed to manage them quite easily. Andrei and the council were much more focused on the building of the southern town. Lavigne was not heavily involved with that, but King Ioan had managed to convince the council to allow Lavignian blacksmiths and ironsmiths to settle there, since Jardinia had so few of them. He and Andrei had also requested to bring in smiths from Fier to settle there as well, so they could train more people in the trade, but the council was very opposed to the idea of immigrants from so far away. They insisted that, instead, they should send young men from Jardinia to Fier as apprentices at forges, and then come back to set up their own trade. Andrei was somewhat reluctant to begin these negotiations, but he did so anyway.

Isabel thought it sounded like an exciting opportunity. It would be wonderful for the people of Jardinia to get better training in a trade. She had always complained about the state of education and requested the council to consider building more libraries and schools, but Lord Francis had always turned her down. When Andrei mentioned during one meeting that improving the education system should be made a long term goal, she felt so vindicated she almost wanted to look for Lord Francis (who was absent) and gloat. She satisfied herself by telling Andrei later about all her ideas that were turned down, and he seemed genuinely interested to hear more. But he began to question her on several aspects of feasibility that she had not thought through yet, and she got the impression that he thought her ideas were not very sound. Isabel felt very cross at first, but upon reflecting further, she had to agree that she had never made any long term proposals, and simply building more schools and libraries would not fix the issue. He surprised her, however, when he approached her a few days later with a roadmap for improving the education system, which incorporated her ideas into a long term plan. Isabel became very excited and immediately began to study his plans in great detail.

Andrei wanted to do some actual field research and asked whether she would ride with him to town to visit some of the schools and libraries. Isabel declined right away. She was not ready to interact with people directly. That was why she had been avoiding attending court.

"Well, you needn't speak with anyone then," he insisted, "just stand in a corner."

"Can we take a carriage then?" she asked.

"It would only impede us," he replied. "Horseback would make it easier to travel to several locations quickly."

Isabel grimaced underneath her veil. "I don't like horses," she finally admitted.

Andrei thought that was outrageous and that she should definitely try to get better at it, but Isabel was not to be thus swayed. So he rode into the towns by himself and spoke to the lords about the ideas, and they seemed very amenable to them. In fact, the ones in the larger towns were quite eager to help him gather the information he needed, because they agreed that the conditions of the schools were not as good as they could have been. Andrei wondered that the council had never bothered to look into this. Much of it was because under Lord Francis and Prince Henri's leadership, the council was not very motivated. He had had to work hard to get them excited about taking initiative.

In the meantime, he had found a good way to improve his relationships with the Jardinian landowners. He was starting to think that it was actually very valuable to have Isabel around. Her ideas were dismissed because the council did not take her seriously, and because she did not have the experience to frame them in an appealing way. He may have dismissed her ideas too if he were not specifically trying to be nice to her, but once he paid attention to them, he realized that she always thought of the duties as ruler of the people rather than ruler of the kingdom. She provided a valuable perspective and so far, they had actually helped him gain even more popular support.

Isabel picked up on the fact that he was getting popular throughout the kingdom, and she couldn't help but feel jealous. She knew that she could never develop the kind of charismatic personality he had that always swayed people to his side. But she really appreciated the fact that he actually valued her opinions, which eventually made many council members start to take her seriously as well. In fact, working with him was giving her much better training than she had ever received from her father, who usually wanted her to do as he said and always started fretting when she wanted to do things her own way. Working with Andrei, she learned to examine her ideas and identify their strengths and weaknesses, and in time she had developed a sense for when her ideas would be well received and when they would not.

* * *

As the autumn wore on, Isabel gradually made a few trips to the throne room. The harvest was approaching, it was the largest topic brought up at court; and Isabel found herself digging through books on agriculture. She accompanied her father on his annual visit to the farmers, though she kept her distance. She could always feel the stares on her and the whispers about her. Andrei had not been able to accompany them on that visit since he had been summoned to Lavigne by King Ioan. As harvest approached, there would be a number of balls and festivals at Lavigne, though King Ioan had limited the number this year; but Isabel would not be going to any of them.

However, Jardinia had always had a tradition of having its own festival during the harvest moon, and Isabel was uncertain if she should attend. As preparations for the festival were underway, there was a frenetic energy around the palace and Isabel found herself wanting to go.

Lisette agreed that she should go, and not give heed to what people said about her. These days, the prevailing theory was that she had lost the child that had never existed in the first place.

"You mustn't let the curse keep you from your life, your highness," Lisette told her, as she dressed her hair.

"I suppose you're right," sighed Isabel. "Especially since I don't believe it will ever be broken. I haven't lost my temper in weeks, and I have tried really hard to be kind to everyone and patient with everyone. I don't think improving my behavior is going to help."

"You have come very far, your highness; don't give up hope yet," Lisette assured her firmly. "Perhaps you need to find your true love. In all the stories I heard as a child, curses were always broken by true love."

Isabel laughed. "I've told you so many times, Lisette! Those are just stories!"

"But that does not mean they are untrue," the girl insisted. She knelt down by Isabel's stool, her eyes sparkling with a long awaited question. "Forgive me for my impertinence, Princess, but do you think Prince Andrei loves you after all?"

Isabel's smile faltered. "I… shouldn't think so," she replied slowly.

"But he has been so attentive of late," Lisette persistent. "I have heard the servants talk about it."

"But he is always attentive to everybody," sighed the princess. "Why do you think my father and everyone else are in love with him? I have observed him interact with people," she added thoughtfully. "He is very good at displaying whichever emotion suits him best at the moment. He is always speaking with all the councilmen, and especially the councilwomen, looking very interested as he asks them mundane questions about themselves about which he really does not care."

"Well, then if his affections aren't sincere, then there is someone else whose are," Lisette informed her, eager to get back on topic.

"Who?" asked Isabel sharply.

"Why, Christien of course. You must have noticed."

"Oh, that," scoffed Isabel, "is only a passing fancy, pay no heed to it."

But Lisette was not convinced.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Isabel had a new dress made for the festival, and a new veil and pair of gloves to go with it. The seamstress was amazed at her patience during the fitting of the dress. She was also quite cheerful during the fitting. She found she was quite looking forward to the festival. The town square had been decorated with wreaths of roses from her mother's garden wrapped around lanterns. Christien had worked very hard all week with his gardeners. She must remember to tell him they did a fantastic job. Villagers and townspeople from all over Jardinia came every year, most them bringing with them to sell all sorts of merchandise and the most delicious pies baked from the orchard harvests. Musicians all the way from Lavigne came to play, and this time Miel would be among them. Isabel felt delighted at the prospect of seeing her friend again. Attendance was always high at the festival, receiving lords and ladies from not only Jardinia, but many of the neighboring kingdoms. This year, the new king and queen of Lavigne were also planning to attend.

Isabel was, however, nervous about making her first social public appearance. Once the festival was underway, though, she realized not much had changed. The young lords and ladies only spoke to her as much as necessary, and they seemed to even more wary of her because of her veil.

Queen Adaline, however, approached her warmly. "My dear friend," she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since your wedding, and even then I barely saw you! We have missed you at the Lavignian court!" She didn't give Isabel much of a chance to respond before she went on, "I do hope you have recovered from your horrid illness, I am truly sorry for whatever lasting marks it has left on you. But do know that you can always come to me if you need anything. After all, we are sisters now!"

Isabel smiled uncertainly and thanked her. Adaline chatted non-stop, praising the decorations and the flowers. "I must really steal your gardeners," she joked. Isabel finally asked where King Ioan was so she could greet him, and Adaline motioned towards a corner where her husband was deep in conversation with Andrei.

"Oh they're only having dull political negotiations," she sighed.

Isabel excused herself and made her way towards the brothers, partly out of curiosity to hear what they were discussing.

"Is it too much to ask that you show some level of concern about the issues of our homeland?" Ioan was asking rather harshly. Isabel was immediately attentive and decided not to approach them.

"Who said I am not concerned-" Andrei began, but Ioan interrupted, "Yes, but Fier's needs have become secondary to you."

"Look, Ioan, I am not native to Jardinia. I have to gain the support of the people, and I have done a splendid job of it so far. I don't wish to jeopardize the good relationship I have established by insisting they bring in immigrants."

Isabel was intrigued. This was an interesting conversation.

"But you are so eager to send apprentices from Jardinia to Fier to train, when you know we have too many ironsmiths for all them to have jobs? Honestly Andrei, do you ever think of anything but your own self interest?"

"Well, I don't see you doing anything to address the issue!" retorted the younger brother angrily. "You're just ruling a small kingdom with your only worries being keeping your wife's penchant for celebrations in check."

Isabel did not know how Ioan would have reacted to this slight, because right then Adaline walked up to them, taking Isabel's arm, and dragging her forward. "I am sure that is enough political talk for tonight, my king," she reproached her husband. "You are missing the festivities."

Ioan turned to look at them. Isabel hoped it wasn't apparent that she had been eavesdropping. Ioan bowed to her. "Princess Isabel," he greeted her.

"Your majesty," she curtsied back. "I understand this is your first time at the Jardinian harvest moon festival. I hope it is to your liking."

"Certainly," he responded. "My brother and I were simply speaking about home," he said. Andrei said nothing and scowled.

"Oh, have you been berating Andrei for not helping with the ironsmith situation in Fier?" cried Adaline. Andrei looked upset that she was bringing it up, but Adaline had started to tell Isabel as way of explanation, "Ioan had been so worried that so many ironsmiths in Fier are sitting idle because there are so many of them. He wants to bring some to live in southern Lavigne, near where those bloomeries are being built, but the council is so reluctant."

"Let us not bore the princess with such mundane concerns," Ioan began to say.

But Isabel quickly trying to process all the information she just received, said, "Oh, but then we shouldn't be sending apprentices to Fier if there is a shortage of jobs there!"

"Yes, that is why we initially wanted to bring them here so they can train even more people," said Andrei, still frowning. "But the Jardinian council is very opposed to the idea as well."

"But you can surely convince the councils," she said, looking from one brother to the other, "You've managed to convince them of everything else."

"Andrei doesn't want to appear to be pushing an agenda for Fier," explained Ioan with a disparaging look at his brother. Andrei was immediately upset. Ioan had no right berating him like this in front of Isabel and Adaline. Isabel, in the meantime deduced why Ioan was so insistent that the Jardinian council be persuaded. Andrei was the better negotiator by far. "If Jardinia allows immigrants, then Lavigne would follow suit." Ioan nodded.

"I'd be willing to speak to the council," she said shyly. "Though I don't know that they will listen." She wasn't particularly concerned about the problems in Fier, but it seemed inconsiderate to ask them to host Jardinians when they weren't willing to do the same.

Both Ioan and Andrei looked at her in the utmost surprise. "Of course, I would need Andrei's help in figuring out how to present my case," she went on.

Isabel suddenly realized it was the first time she had addressed Andrei without an honorific or a title. From Andrei's expression she could tell he had noticed as well, even if his brother and sister-in-law had not noticed anything out of the ordinary. She felt herself flush.

"I thank you sincerely, Princess," smiled King Ioan. "You have shown more concern for my homeland than my own brother has!"

"Oh that is not fair to say!" his wife scolded. "Andrei cares deeply about both Fier and Jardinia, you know that."

"Well, my dear, I do believe it is time we rejoin the festivities," he ignored her reproof and offered her his arm. Thanking Isabel again, he walked off with her, leaving Isabel and Andrei in awkward silence.

After a while he came up to her. "Are you certain you want to bring this up to the council?"

"Why not?" she asked.

"I'm just concerned how it will look," he explained. "If I were only an ambassador, trying to get permission for people from my homeland to settle here would have been one matter; but as it is…" He hesitated. And Isabel realized what he was saying. He was already in a position to become the future ruler of Jarndian, and Ioan was already leader of Lavigne. Bringing in tradesmen from Fier to live in the Foretlands would make it look like they were insidiously taking over. Isabel suppressed a giggle. She was right all along; they really were trying to take over from the inside, though she knew their true intentions were simply to rule and they had no greater agenda for Fier in mind.

"Well, like I said, I could bring it up, and you don't have to say anything on the topic. As long as you help me prepare what to say."

Andrei smiled. "Thank you," he said earnestly, and Isabel suddenly felt a strange sensation in her stomach. He looked down and laughed sheepishly before asking her, "Would you care to join me for the next dance?"

Isabel had not had any intention of stepping into the dance floor that night. But when Andrei held out his hand, she couldn't help but take it.

She felt very conscious of herself as they waited by the edge of the dance floor. She noticed Lisette was dancing with Christien and smiled to herself. She would have to ask Lisette about it later. As the next set began, Andrei led her to the floor.

"Everyone's staring," she whispered as the music started.

"Well, they've never seen us dance together, I suppose," he speculated, laughing. "It has been so long since we danced together at Lavigne."

"It feels like a lifetime ago," Isabel laughed too. And then they switched partners.

"It is important to keep up appearances like this, though," he said, when they switched back. "Otherwise people talk."

"Is that why you asked me to dance?" Isabel asked sharply before she could stop herself.

"No!" he replied quickly, looking stricken.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask in that way," she apologized, as they switched again. Of course, this was what she should be expecting from him anyways. Andrei was always concerned with his public image. After all, he was just getting told off by his brother for it. But why did she have to feel so crestfallen about it?

When the set ended, the partners bowed to each other and Isabel wanted to go off to find Miel.

"Isabel," called Andrei, following her. She turned around. She noticed that he had dropped the formalities too. And it made her feel strange in her stomach again. "I don't want you to think this was just for show," he implored. He was looking at her so intently she thought his gaze would pierce through her veil.

"I'm sorry, I should not have addressed you informally without asking first," he apologized, mistaking her silence for disapproval. "I thought perhaps…earlier when you were informal…well, I liked that."

She was vexed to feel the warmth creeping to her cheeks. At least he couldn't see it. "Perhaps it's time we dropped the formalities," she suggested quietly.

"I would like that very much," he smiled. Isabel knew that she was in danger when her stomach fluttered again. She would have to sit down, sort out her feelings, and make sure she was thinking rationally.

* * *

After Miel finished her performance, she and Isabel sat in a corner with warm spiced drinks. Isabel wanted to hear all about her experiences in Lavigne and she felt genuinely happy for her friend because she sounded so excited as she talked about it. Soon the conversation turned back to Isabel.

"I saw you dancing with Prince Andrei earlier," Miel commented, her tone implying a question.

"Yes, well, it turns out I don't hate him anymore," answered Isabel, trying to hide the smile in her voice. She told Miel about slowly getting involved with the council again, about how she worked closely with Andrei, and about how she planned to ask to retain sovereignty upon her coronation.

"Are you going to speak with the council about it?" Miel asked, well aware of her friend's tendency to drag her feet when a task involved a potentially unpleasant conversation.

"Well, it's more of my father and Andrei's decision, so I would have to ask them first," Isabel sighed. "I just want to make sure I have proven myself before I ask."

"Do you think Prince Andrei would agree to it?" Miel asked uncertainly.

Isabel was quiet for some time and then said, "I don't think he will, Miel. We both know how desperately he wanted to rule Jardinia. He would never have…married…me if he didn't."

It was the first time Isabel had mentioned her marriage to Andrei. Usually, she liked to pretend it had never happened.

"But I have to try, don't I?"

Miel nodded. "Maybe he will change his mind," she said. She could tell Isabel was skeptical. "No, I mean it. I've noticed a difference in him when he visits Lavigne. He speaks highly of you."

"Does he?" asked Isabel in surprise. "I don't know, Miel, he seems to be in earnest, but I know he acts only in his self-interest. And he always feigns attentiveness to everyone from whom he has something to gain. I can never be sure if he forgave me for humiliating him at his brother's wedding."

Miel chuckled. "I think he is just very attentive in general. It can be very off-putting." She blushed. "At first it was flattering," she said slowly, "When he paid his attentions and compliments; but then I realized he didn't really mean them…in that way."

"Oh," Isabel was not sure how else to respond. Miel usually often confided in her, when it came to the case of gentlemen, but in this circumstance, she had dropped not a hint.

"But no matter what his intentions are," continued Miel. "I think he does respect you."

Isabel sighed and looked around. The town square had started to empty. It would be time to go home soon.

"Isabel," Miel said. "You seem so much happier now than when I had left. I want you to know that and remember that."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Delphine was collecting hairy ferns to make blankets that would keep her warm during the winter. She had kept to the Forest over the past few weeks, somewhat disappointed in herself for getting the curse wrong. But after all, it was not like she had a lot of practice cursing humans. It was the first time that she had tried.

Then she sensed Andrei in the Forest. He was looking for her. Andrei had not visited her once since he got his wish. She didn't know if it was because he was angry at her for her mistake, or if he did not care anymore. She considered not showing herself, but curiosity got the better of her.

She flew to him and flitted around his head.

"Delphine," he said, "I'd like to talk to you."

She sat down on a tree branch at his eye level and crossed her arms.

"Please?" he asked, looking at her imploringly.

She relented and took her human form.

"You haven't come to see me once in all this time!" she accused him immediately.

"I have been busy," he explained. "Besides, I couldn't risk coming to see you. If my connection with you is ever discovered, I could be charged with treason."

"So you just used me to get what you want?"

"I did not!" Andrei was indignant. "I asked for your help only because you owed me a favor."

"I've repaid it, so what more do you want?"

He narrowed his eyes. "As I recall, you failed to repay it. You said so yourself."

"And you've come to collect it?" Delphine scowled.

"I want you to lift the curse from Isabel."

"I've already told you that I can't do it. Only you can break it."

"How do I break it?"

Delphine sighed. "Do you recall that I told you that the curse became tied to your heart's desire?"

"My desire to be king?" he asked. "So I must give up Jardinia?" Andrei was incredulous.

"Yes, I suppose so."

"There has to be another way!"

"Then I am afraid I do not know of it," she replied coldly and turned to leave. "Come back when you have thought of another way I can repay you." Then she turned back into a fairy and flew away.

Andrei felt extremely irritated and angry. She had misled him into thinking she was competent with her magic. He should never have enlisted her help, but she had seemed so eager, and he had been so angry, and he had been quite taken with her human form. He had been very foolish. But of course, he had never meant to create a permanent situation. Delphine said she would simply alter the princess's appearance such that it would distress her to no end, and once she had repented for her ill behavior, she would lift the enchantment and make it look like Andrei had broken the curse. He would get the princess and the crown, she would get her punishment, and Delphine would get much enjoyment out of it. And then it could have all been forgotten.

Of course, Andrei was in no danger of being found out. No one knew about his connection with Delphine and she had given her word never to breathe a word about the curse to anyone. He knew that the fairy code made her promise binding. But he was having large regrets about the curse. Though it had turned out in his favor, he was now being overcome by guilt. He generally did not find himself in positions that could be considered outright dishonest, but bearing the secret of the curse was creating a sense of deception that he was acutely aware of every time he spoke with Isabel. Why did it all have to be so complicated? He deserved to be king just as much as his brothers did. It was his life's ambition and he had worked so hard to be a worthy ruler. He had finally achieved his dreams. He was not going to give that up, no matter how guilty he felt, or how he felt about Isabel.

His feelings towards Isabel did seem to be in flux these days. While he had come to greatly appreciate her contribution to the running of the kingdom, he was trying to work out what she really wanted. She clearly had genuine interest in being involved in the governance of Jardinia, which had taken him by surprise. When she was still in seclusion, Lord Francis had told him he was glad that she had withdrawn, because she did not possess the knowledge or wisdom to run a kingdom, and that she had been very difficult. Andrei had assumed this was because she would much rather be doing other things, but he had not thought it was because her training had large gaps and had never been intended to help her become a free thinker. He found himself attempting to fill these gaps. He worried that perhaps he shouldn't be encouraging her lest she decides to renege on their agreement, but somehow he couldn't help himself. He was quite impressed by how hard she had been working recently, and he was thrilled how much she had come to respect and rely on his opinion. He would hate for her to stop coming to the library or even if she stopped working with him. He looked forward to every moment he could spend with her, and they would be happy moments if not for the guilt gnawing at the back of his mind.

However, she was clearly very much uncomfortable with her physical appearance – he kept wondering what it was that she looked like now – so perhaps she only wanted to be involved from afar? Maybe he didn't have to worry about her taking back the kingdom after all. He wondered if he would have set his sights on Jardinia so strongly if he had realized that she had cared so much, but there was no denying that he was still the better candidate. He was just going to have to figure out how to deal with all the guilt he was feeling.

* * *

Isabel was very busy as the winter approached. Her suggestion to the council to review Andrei and Ioan's original proposal of inviting ironsmiths from Fier to settle in the new southern town was met with annoyance and surprise. Andrei's opinion was requested immediately, but he only stated that he would like for the proposal to be approved, but he should not get involved in the discussion about it since he was a biased party. He had however worked for long hours with Isabel helping her to prepare her case. They did not want to put too much focus on Fier's job shortage problems, but focused on how much Jardinia would benefit from bringing them in. They would not have to wait for the apprentices to return before production could begin in earnest, and many more young men (and women if they so chose) could receive training in the trade, since Fier was after all quite reluctant to take on too many apprentices. The council members continued to dislike the idea of having so many Inghetmen living in their lands, and Isabel got frustrated and pointed out that they really shouldn't have a problem with it since they were so happy to have an Inghetman in line to be their next ruler. The room did not respond well to her comments and Andrei looked so taken aback, she almost regretted her outburst. Prince Henri tried quickly to defuse the situation by announcing his support for the proposal. He had been very surprised by Isabel's sudden eagerness for this idea, but if it came out of her recent goodwill towards Andrei, then he was fully in favor of it. It was decided that the matter was going to be taken under review.

Andrei thanked her afterwards, saying it went better than he had hoped for. His manner was a little awkward, and Isabel apologized for her outburst. They agreed not to speak about it, and shifted focus to the very busy time the end of harvest brought for the kingdom. The court room was very crowded due to several conflicts arising due to the harvest, or due to various taxation issues. Prince Henri had begun to let Andrei proceed over court and accompany him on all the visits to the farms he always made right before the end of harvest. Isabel decided to try to overcome her trepidation of appearing in public – after all she had made an appearance at the harvest moon festival – and decided to attend court on a few occasions. She noticed coolly that Andrei's proceedings were smooth and efficient, and her father never interfered with them. She felt that Andrei, like her father, did not spend enough time on each issue for the sake of efficiency, though he was so good at convincing every one of his rulings that people generally left court happy. She scoffed as she remembered that she had always been criticized when she tried to spend more time analyzing each appeal and trying to fully understand it before making any judgments. She had to admit that she could not have listened to everyone had she been allowed to carry on. Perhaps there was an ideal balance.

With so much to keep her occupied, she did not manage to make as much time as she would have liked to visit the rose garden. Christien had been a little glum recently, and she suspected that it had something to do with having his false hopes crushed. However Lisette had gotten into the habit of roaming about the gardens by herself in her free time, and she and Christien had started to get on very good terms. She had not forgotten to ask Lisette about the harvest moon festival, where she had danced with Christien.

"He has been a good friend," said Lisette, growing serious. "I ran into my former husband and his new wife at the festival." Her voice shook a little. "They said some unkind things."

"Lisette, I am so sorry," exclaimed Isabel in surprise. "You should have come to me."

"Oh, it was nothing, your highness," Lisette brushed it away. "Christien was right there and he told them to leave me be and then he asked me to dance; I did enjoy myself."

"I'm glad," replied Isabel. "It had not even occurred to me that you might see him there!"

"It was no matter. It just reminded me of some painful memories. All I had to do was contemplate how much better off I am now." She smiled widely. "But Christien was very distraught when you and the prince took to the dance floor," she giggled. "I don't think he has given up on you yet."

Isabel shook her head in frustration. "I don't understand why."

The handmaiden shrugged. "I think he is the very devoted kind of person. He is not fickle like some. You will always have a loyal servant in him."

Isabel could only hope that he wasn't putting himself in a situation that would get him hurt.

With the advent of winter, activities in the kingdom slowed down. People mostly tended to stay indoors to avoid the cold. Andrei was surprised at how daunted the people of the Foretlands were by a little cold. It hardly snowed enough for the land to turn completely white. The Inghetlands were usually buried in snow during winters and he could not understand why so little of it impeded all activity in Jardinia.

Isabel had welcomed the cold weather because now she could comfortably wear the warm clothes that covered every inch of her body. During the summer months, it was often unbearable to wear garments made from thick material. She spent most of her time indoors, attending court and council meetings, and reading in her spare time. Andrei had begun to join her frequently, inquire about what she was reading and often read it concurrently so they could discuss and argue. In most cases, he had already read the books many years ago and needed to remember them. In Isabel's case, some of these books were old favorites that she had practically memorized. He teased her about re-reading the same material so many times, and they often argued about the merits of re-reading. They had started to become companionable outside of their work, and Isabel had started to catch herself thinking about what he would say even when he wasn't there. She was aware that there were all sorts of gossip floating around about them; people speculated that her relationship with Andrei had soured due to the "lost child", and the servants observed with interest how the relationship "mended" and blossomed again. Isabel couldn't follow the logic of some of the rumors, but she had learned to pay them no heed.

* * *

One morning, Isabel awoke quite early, feeling rather cold. She looked out the window to see that the grounds were covered completely in white. It rarely snowed heavily in the Foretlands; their winters usually consisted of slush and freezing rain. So whenever the grounds did get buried under a fresh snowfall, Isabel would always rush outside to play in it. She had fond memories of playing in the snow with her mother. She threw on a warm jacket and trousers and found a winter hat that just about held her veil in place. Then she ran into the garden and threw herself into the soft powdery snow, and let herself sink into it.

"Trying to bury yourself?" she heard Andrei ask.

She opened her eyes and saw him standing above her head, peering down in amusement.

"What are you doing here?" she laughed. "Why are you up so early?"

"A real snowfall, and you think I would stay in bed?" he asked in mock incredulity, holding out a hand to help her up. She noticed he was holding a pair of skates.

"The pond will finally be solid enough to support the weight," he explained when he saw her looking. "Do you have a pair?"

"Yes, but I am no good at skating," she started to say, but he wouldn't hear of it. He walked back with her till she found them and then they walked back to the pond.

However, it soon became clear that Isabel was in earnest when she said she was no good. She could never let herself glide on the ice, she kept trying to walk. It was all very frustrating to Andrei who had grown up on the ice. He held both her hands and skated backwards, but as soon as he let go of one hand, she wobbled. When she eventually found her balance, in a fit of mischief he pushed her from the back. Isabel screamed as she found herself zooming towards the middle of the pond without any control. She closed her eyes and tried to slow herself down, but of course she tottered about and was about to fall on her face, when she bumped into something solid and felt arms steadying her. Andrei was laughing very hard.

"How could you do that to me?" she demanded looking up at him and was surprised to see him studying her face curiously.

"All that fuss about some fur," he teased. "I think you look rather like a puppy."

With a gasp Isabel touched her face. "My veil!" she shrieked and looked about her for it. It lay a few feet away.

"You don't really need it," Andrei started to say, but she began to whimper so he started to skate away to retrieve it.

"No," she wailed, "don't leave me by myself in the middle of the pond!" Andrei shook his head as he went back to take her hand and guide her to the veil, which she immediately put back into her hat.

"You expected much worse?" she asked him later as they made their way back to the palace.

"Yes I did actually. I got the impression you had a gruesome disfigurement."

"You do not find the fur gruesome?" she asked incredulously. Andrei shrugged and said no, he didn't, but Isabel was not convinced.

* * *

The ice skating episode changed something between them. Andrei was suddenly more comfortable asking her questions about the condition. She told him about the old woman who was really a fairy and how the curse was placed on her. He didn't seem as interested in hearing about how this happened, but more about how it made her feel.

"I don't know," she replied slowly. "I hate it and I hate that I look like this, but I've just come to accept it. There doesn't seem to be any chance that I will be changed back."

"But do you really plan to wear the veil the rest of your life? You still have the same face you know, it only looks much darker because of the fur; but the fur is pretty short-"

"Are you trying to make me feel better about how I look?" Isabel laughed. "And why do you want me to remove the veil anyways?"

Andrei shrugged. "It's easier to talk to someone when you can see their eyes."

Isabel hesitated for a second before she slowly removed the veil. She felt very self-conscious as he curiously studied her face for some time.

"Stop staring so much, or I'll put the veil back on," she exclaimed.

But somehow, she found that she felt comfortable around him without her veil. She only removed it in private when they were in the library, but she kept her gloves on. She showed her claws to him once, and he didn't react, but she could swear he had shuddered imperceptibly. However, she found that Andrei made a lot more eye contact now that he could actually see her eyes. In fact he was always watching her eyes and trying to read her expressions, and it had started to make the strange feeling in her stomach spread to the rest of her body.

She reflected on what Miel had told her at the festival – that she seemed to be happy. She would never have expected it, but she concluded that she really was happy. She found she enjoyed the work with which she kept herself busy; she enjoyed working with Andrei and the conversations she had with him. She found that every morning, she had something to which she looked forward. However, at the same time, she also had something to dread. She had not given up on reclaiming her birthright to rule her kingdom. She would have to confront her father and Andrei about it sooner or later. And she had the sinking feeling that this was going to mar her new-found happiness. Perhaps that was what Miel had meant when she told her to remember that she was noticeably happier now.

Suddenly she missed her mother terribly. It had been many years since she had passed away. Isabel had only fond memories. People said she was not the best ruler, nowhere near as beloved as Isabel's grandfather had been. Isabel had only vague memories of her mother at court. Her father was always present, and always telling her what to do. Before they were married, Isabel had heard that Lord Francis would constantly interfere and try to control her every decision. Isabel had heard her mother say that Lord Francis would never have left her alone had she not married Prince Henri. These days Isabel often wondered whether her parent's marriage had been one of mere convenience. As a child it had never occurred to her that her parents had been anything but happy together. But now as she recalled memories of them talking in the sitting rooms as she played with her dolls, her father had always complained about her mother's decisions. He had rarely liked them. Maybe that was why he was not willing to give Isabel a chance, but this was incredibly unfair.

Isabel wished her mother had been alive. She would never have tried to find an alternate ruler she deemed would be better than her daughter. Prince Andrei would simply have been turned away. But then, what would have happened after she was cursed? Would she have found the motivation to train to be the ruler she always theoretically claimed she could be? Would she have worked so hard to be as well-informed as she was now? Life takes a strange course, sometimes, Isabel realized. Perhaps without the curse, she may not have become who she was today.

 **A/N: It's that point of the story, where we could leave things as they are, where every-one is semi-happy... but we could also bring on the conflicts! Please share your thoughts!**

 **Thank you to Be Rose, Angel Princess, and mystorytotell for reviews, but also for sharing your thoughts and asking questions! It was a lot of fun for me to be able to discuss the story with you in PM. :)**

 **For anyone else who has been following the story, I really would love to hear your thoughts, especially regarding what you think of the characters at this point in the story, or even what you hope happens to them. Or even just to tell me if this is getting too long! (I have been guilty of getting carried away with the minutiae of what is going on in the lives of the characters...but I have every intention of staying on track henceforth.)**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Minor updates to Chapters 8 (the beginning) and Chapter 9 (right before the ice skating); but they're very minor. Also, I promised to get the ball rolling with actual stuff happening, but I couldn't help myself, so just bear with a little bit more fluff and exposition. Stuff starts happening half way through this chapter, I promise!**

 **Chapter 10**

During the slow months of winter, there was little to do. Prince Henri had been getting less and less engaged with governing the lands, as he became more excited about the prospect of his retirement. In mid-winter, he made his annual trip south to warmer climates, this time happily entrusting all his responsibilities to Andrei. In previous years, he would leave Lord Francis in charge, though he had always felt uneasy to do so. Isabel always accompanied him in the past, but this year she stayed back for obvious reasons.

With very little going on, she spent most of her time indoors. And she spent most of them with Andrei. They drew out several plans for the spring and she had lots of questions for him about the effective execution of them. Court was in session infrequently, but when it was, she attended with him and made a few attempts to take over. Andrei seemed more amused than annoyed by this, and was even a little curious to see how she would handle the appeals. He wondered at how seriously she took each of them, and how much time she spent thinking about each of them, but he never criticized her and offered counsel when he thought necessary. He realized that she enjoyed the chance to work with her subjects on their problems very much, whereas he thought of it as an obligation of his much larger job of managing the entire kingdom. He found he did not object to her taking charge of the court.

When they weren't working, they read together and never seemed to run out of topics about which to converse. He challenged her opinions frequently, but he always considered them carefully, and even conceded to them at times. Isabel had never really had anyone besides her father who read as widely as she did. Henri used to read and debate with his daughter when she was younger, though he never thought her ideas that differed from his had any weight. Miel used to always be more occupied with her music, though she did read somewhat, mostly at Isabel's insistence, and she rarely expressed any interest in discussing books in detail. And Isabel had found that Lisette was worse. She could not see why anyone would read for pleasure, and Isabel had found her reading skills were considerably lacking. And she found Lisette wasn't alone among the servants who had difficulty reading. Christien had also seemed intimidated when Isabel had attempted to converse about history and politics, though at least he was willing to read any material related to gardening. Isabel was sure the education system was to blame for not inspiring students to read. Jardinians weren't well-read in general. She and Miel had had tutors brought from other kingdoms for many years, and Henri had overseen most of her education. She was looking very much forward to implementing all the plans on which she had worked with Andrei, and she hoped in the long term they could introduce significant improvements to all the Jardinian schools.

In all, she had a good winter with Andrei. He seemed to have a knack for convincing her to do things which she would otherwise be reluctant to do. She found herself on the ice with him once again during the next spell of below freezing temperatures, and he even got her to sing. After he had heard her humming one time, he had convinced her to sing for him and even played when she explained she had little skill at instruments. She couldn't sing half as well as Miel, which was why she never performed in public, but she did have a good voice. She thought he had to be feigning enjoyment at her performance, but there could be no mistaking the sparkle in his eyes as he watched her when she sang. She tried to get him to sing too, and then to her immense pleasure, she finally discovered something at which he possessed no skill whatsoever. He played decently, however, and she was certain that had she not neglected to practice, she would have played far better than he did.

Winter turned to spring and the kingdom came alive again. The farmers were starting to plan for the crops they would plant this year. The orchard workers started tending to the trees that bore spring fruit. The market places in the towns were abuzz with people. The construction work of the new town resumed full-force. The lords and ladies of all the towns and villages had a lot of oversee, and the palace courtroom began to see lots of activity again. The council deliberated on the issue of immigrants from Fier and finally decided to grant permission for a small number of blacksmiths and ironsmiths to settle in Jardinia.

King Ioan was so overjoyed when he heard about this, that he came over to celebrate, bringing with him a few kegs of Lavignian wine. He and Andrei took great pleasure consuming a large amount in a single evening, as they discussed politics and occasionally squabbling over who had the greater weakness for wine. Isabel teased the pair of them for having come to the Foretlands solely for the wine, and they laughed very loudly at that. Isabel wondered what they would be like if they got properly drunk, but they probably would not stop talking about politics even then.

Ioan soon started telling Andrei off for not having visited Lavigne in many weeks. And apparently King George of Fier had complained that Andrei was "too busy" to help with trade negotiations with Ligne. Fier had been working on establishing many trade relationships with all the various Foret kingdoms, and George expected his brothers would represent their home kingdom during some of these negotiations. Ioan had been diligently doing his part, but Andrei was slowly becoming less and less involved with Fier, focusing his attention solely on Jardinia. Ioan complained now that Andrei had got his kingdom, he had forgotten all about his homeland. Isabel bristled at his comment, wishing he had had less to drink, but she also wondered why Andrei was neglecting his duties towards Fier. She had reviewed his contract with Jardinia, and it definitely allowed him to carry on his duties as Prince of Fier, as long as they did not conflict with Jardinia's interest. She asked him about it later.

"I've made a commitment here," he explained, "and I don't want to get distracted from my duties here." He was investing in his future, and didn't want to be held back by his past. That was so very like him to get wrapped up in his ambitions, she had come to realize. However, after receiving a letter from his eldest brother, Andrei wondered if he should leave her to lead the court and council, while he attended to King George's requests. Isabel was very supportive of this decision. She may have had some selfish motivation, but she also strongly felt Andrei shouldn't be neglecting his duties towards his homeland, and she told him so.

"Now you sound like Ioan," he groaned. "George has sent ambassadors to Ligne to negotiate a new trade route, and he wants me to be present. It could take a few days." He had not wanted to travel for the past few weeks, and he didn't want to go now. She didn't like the prospect of him gone for so long, but she also wanted the chance to see how she fared in his absence. But it turned out that a little encouragement from her convinced him to go, for he did feel troubled when George had been disappointed in his reluctance to help. Trade negotiations had always been Andrei's specialty.

His trip didn't turn out to be too unpleasant, though he was quite impatient to get back to Isabel. He didn't feel uncomfortable leaving the governing duties to Isabel. She had been showing rapid improvement as ruler, and this was evident to both him and the council, though her father was still away on his travels and had not witnessed this development. Andrei could see that she was very pleased with her progress, and he hoped that it would make her happy. He found he was no longer opposed to sharing responsibilities with her as ruler – she never made any decision without consulting with him anyway – as long as she didn't ask for sovereignty back. He thought perhaps he should discuss this with her, but was afraid to broach the topic, unsure about what she would have to say about it. He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn't want them to ruin the time he spent with her.

* * *

With the spring, the rose garden also grew busy again as the gardeners returned from their winter break. Isabel had not seen Christien much over the winter, though Lisette said she had seen him occasionally, but as the weather grew warmer, both girls began to visit the gardens again like they used to before the winter. Only this time Prince Andrei usually accompanied them. Most of the gardeners were very honored by his presence and by the feigned interest he showed in their work, which made her feel annoyed and amused at the same time. However, she noted that Christien was somewhat cold when he visited, and while Andrei was quick to notice this and attempted to be pleasant with him, on the whole, Andrei did not seem to like the gardener either. Christien's spirits did not seem to have improved much over the winter, and he seemed to be spending a great deal of time away from the palace, working on a new project of planting rose bushes in town squares around the kingdom. Isabel had approved the plans quite enthusiastically, and promised to check in on his progress, but she worried that his feelings had been hurt somehow, though she had never given him any reason to hope.

As the weather got warmer, Andrei wanted to spend more and more time outdoors on horseback. He kept insisting that Isabel join him, until she finally relented, but regretted it immediately. She rode decently, but she really disliked the motion. She sighed as she watched Andrei's skill on horseback, something else to add to the long list of his accomplishments that she could not match. But Andrei's delight in having her company made up for her discomfort on horseback. He offered many pointers on how to ride better, but he had learned to be tactful when correcting her technique, because criticism tended to make her irritable.

She seemed especially irritable and on edge when they rode close to the Forest. Something in there was starting to pull her towards it, and Andrei remembered with some consternation that the fairy had warned him not to let her go near the Forest. He blocked her way and insisted they needed to go back, and she got rather upset. She apologized later, saying she wasn't sure what had come over her; she was actually usually rather frightened by the Forest. But she remained perturbed.

The coronation was approaching in the summer, and Isabel knew she had to stand up for herself now and ask to maintain sovereignty, but she was procrastinating. Part of her desperately hoped that Andrei cared enough to give her what she wanted, part of her worried that he was too set on his ambitions to renegotiate the contract, and part of her was afraid that he would hand her back sovereignty and then leave.

When Prince Henri returned from his travels, she decided it was time to speak about renegotiation. To her surprise, he also had renegotiation in mind, though not in the way she did. He was less concerned with Isabel's progress as ruler and more delighted about the progress in her relationship with Andrei. He asked whether Isabel would reconsider the bit about not being expected to spend time with Andrei or give him heirs. She had of course been spending most of her time with Andrei of her own accord, and it was no secret that the whole palace perceived them to be very much in love. But she had not given much thought to the small detail that, in fact, she was married to Andrei. She didn't know how he felt about it; he had certainly never approached her in that way. But her father seemed to be hopeful that an heir would be on the way before long.

"A king must have heirs," he said. "And of course we would want the throne to stay in our bloodline. I knew you would come around eventually."

Isabel felt angry. She felt so angry that she even felt the uncontrollable beast-like anger rising to the surface that she hadn't felt in weeks, but she bit it down. Her father was completely set on Andrei taking over from him, and would not even stop to consider whether Isabel might actually be capable of it. She coldly told him that he presumed too much and walked away. She made her way to the library where she knew Andrei would be. She knew what she was going to say. She had been practicing it in her mind for some time now.

He looked up from his book when she came in, and smiled widely. It almost broke her resolve. She sat down next to him, and played with her veil. He noticed something was wrong.

"Isabel, are you alright?" he asked earnestly. She nodded. "I was hoping we could talk," she said, but started folding her veil, taking her time, stalling. Andrei raised his eyebrows.

Finally she took a deep breath, and started talking. It came out like a practiced speech. "When this curse was placed on me, I could not bear it. I lost all interest in life, in my hopes and dreams. So when I refused to learn my duties as ruler of this kingdom, my father convinced me to marry you so you can rule in my stead."

Andrei quickly took her hand in his and started to say something, but she stopped him. "Please let me finish." He nodded and she went on. "I hated you at first for taking over what was rightfully mine. But I was the one who hadn't fought for it. I just gave up. But I have come to accept that this is how I look and I cannot change it. And I don't want to give up anymore." She was gripping the hand that held her very tightly now. He could feel the claws beneath her gloves and they made him uncomfortable.

"I also understand why my father chose you. You're so knowledgeable and you know where to look for answers and how to talk to people. I have learned so much from you, and I know I still have a lot to learn, but I know I can be a good ruler, especially if you stay by my side." She took another deep breath. "I wish to request re-negotiations of the marriage contract. I wish to retain sovereignty upon my coronation."

She finally looked up at his face. He stared straight ahead, but his expression was masked in neutrality.

"Did you speak with your father about this?" he asked finally.

"I wanted to speak with you first."

He let go of her hand and walked over to the window. "Let me think about it," he said. "And I will speak with him." His voice was distant and carefully disguised of emotion.

Isabel felt a punch to her stomach. "Alright," she said, putting her veil back on. "I'll let you think about it," she said before walking back to her chambers. Of course she had known he would never be enthusiastic about the idea, but his lack of emotion was more painful than she had anticipated.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Isabel didn't speak to Andrei for some days. She remained silent and sullen at court. Her father had started to attend court again, while Andrei presided over it. They frequently conferred together and neither of them paid much heed of her presence. Isabel felt the anger boiling at the back of her mind, and she stopped coming to court, or to council meetings. The councilwomen gossiped about whether she and Andrei had an argument.

Lisette grew nervous and worried to see the princess so angry and on edge. Isabel worried that she might lose control of her temper again, and tried to think of ways to keep herself calm. That was why she avoided the court, the council, Andrei, and her father. She began to spend more time in the garden; often she sat there with a book.

She knew that Lisette liked the garden, and had even tried her hand at pruning and Christien had showed her how. Isabel had been waiting for some time now for either of them to admit that they cared for each other, but neither expressed any overt signs of affection. Isabel almost started to feel impatient, and in an attempt to distract herself from her present worries, she decided to interfere.

She cornered Christien in front of the garden one day and asked him what he thought of Lisette. Christien was taken aback, but he replied that she was very pleasant and he enjoyed her company and quickly changed the topic to a new variety of roses he had acquired. Isabel looked up at the palace. The view from the library directly overlooked the entrance to the garden, and sure enough Andrei was standing there. She immediately began to walk away from the garden, and a confused Christien followed her.

"I had the impression you got along very well with her," she remarked to him, determined to keep the conversation on Lisette.

He seemed to get a little uncomfortable. "I – yes, Princess."

"And I have noticed that you have spent much time in her company recently," she added.

"You highness, I assure you, I have no untoward intentions," he declared.

Isabel sighed in frustration. "I mean to ask if you care for her."

He seemed shocked that she would even think that. "No, I haven't thought of her in that way. She used to be married."

"But she is no longer married."

Christien shook his head. "It is different among the nobility and royalty; for people like us, once a woman is married, she cannot be with other men."

"Why not?" she exclaimed angrily. "Men marry all the time when their wives die. Or if they leave their wives." She was surprised at how traditional Christien's ideals were. Many of the town widows had been getting remarried these days.

"But it is different among women," he explained, "and more so when they are-"

Isabel stopped in her tracks. "Disfigured?" she finished for him.

"I didn't mean to-" he started saying.

"You said you never saw me that night, when I was cursed," she commented.

Christien held his breath and shook his head. There was no one around. Isabel lifted her veil, watching him with a hard expression as he gasped and stared wordlessly at her in disbelief.

"I believe it is much worse than hers, don't you think?" she asked him, letting the veil fall back in place.

"But your curse may yet be broken, Princess," he said.

"I don't think it will," she said, "How long has it been since you saw the old woman? She isn't coming back." Then she walked back to the palace, leaving him standing there.

Christien was truly shocked to see the fur. He had of course had no idea what form the disfigurement had taken. Reflecting on it, he realized he had assumed it could have been nothing worse than Lisette's scar.

He looked up at the palace windows and thought he caught a glimpse of Prince Andrei walking away. He knew that the prince did not like him, and he probably did not trust him around the princess. Christien had seen him at the library window too, and he guessed that when he and the princess had walked away from the garden, the prince had left the library to follow their progress through other windows.

He knew that Prince Andrei made it evident for everyone to see that he cared for the princess. He wondered now if he was aware of the extent of her disfigurement and if it bothered him. But Isabel had often complained about his big ambitions on her during her strolls in the garden months ago, so maybe it didn't matter to him as long as he could be king. What did it matter, though, if Isabel was happy? And the princess certainly had seemed happy over the past few weeks.

He had always known that she would not return his love, and he knew he would always love her from afar. He was satisfied knowing that she had come to respect him and value his friendship. He didn't know if Prince Andrei would ever come to love her like he did, but royalty never understood love in that way. They only looked for love where it was convenient for them.

He sighed and wondered that the princess hoped he could come to care for Lisette. It had not even occurred to him to consider whether he felt any affection towards her. He certainly liked her a lot. It would have felt wrong to court the princess's handmaiden when he was so devoted to the princess. But the princess seemed to be in favor of it. He felt foolish about what he said to her. It had sounded unfeeling. He certainly did not think Lisette did not deserve love simply because she had been married once. But at the same time, it would never have occurred to him to harbor affections for a woman once married. It only occurred to him then, that he was in fact, harboring affections for a woman currently married. Isabel may have once claimed that it was only a political marriage of convenience and not a true one, but he was sure that she had changed her mind by now.

* * *

Isabel's feeling of frustration did not leave her. Lisette was sympathetic, and went to fetch a dish of Isabel's favorite pudding from the kitchen. They sat in a balcony outside the princess's suite and let the rich tones of caramel do the trick.

But her conversation with Christien was bothering Isabel.

"Lisette," she asked her handmaiden, "Do you hope to marry again and start a new family?"

"No, your highness," Lisette replied. "I cannot hope to make any suitable matches anymore. Especially not given my disfigurement."

"But I am disfigured too," said Isabel.

"But you are a princess!"

Isabel sighed. "I wouldn't have been married if it were not for political reasons," she said sadly. The caramel had not done the trick.

"But Prince Andrei cares for you!"

"Not enough to let me have my throne and just be married to me." Isabel closed her eyes. Tears were threatening to come and she wouldn't let them. She changed the subject back to Lisette.

"I had hoped that maybe Christien would come to care for you. He has a suitable position as head gardener, and-"

Lisette laughed. "Oh you need not make matches for me, your highness. I am very happy where I am. It is very liberating to be able to support myself with my work and not be dependent on a husband." She sighed contentedly. "Could I have ever imagined that I would be sitting on a balcony at the palace with the princess, partaking of the most delicious caramel pudding?" she asked theatrically. "Besides, Christien could never come to care for me; he is much too besotted with you."

"Well I hope he comes to his senses soon and stops harboring any foolish hopes," said Isabel crossly.

"Your highness," said Lisette timidly, "Perhaps, if the love of a prince is not enough to break your curse, maybe the love of a simple gardener might be."

Isabel looked at her incredulously. Before she had the chance to respond, she heard voices through the balcony door and her father and Andrei walked in. She immediately felt flustered at the thought that they might have overheard the conversation. Andrei was not looking at her. Lisette quickly curtsied and carried the empty dishes away.

"Isabel, Andrei tells me that you wish to renegotiate the marriage contract," her father said.

"I will leave you to discuss it," said Andrei and he walked out, leaving Isabel rather distressed.

As she had predicted, her father was not at all in favor of it. He asked why it was necessary for her to have sovereignty.

"It's my birthright, Father!" Isabel cried.

"Yes, but your duty is to have Jardinia's best interests at heart. Do you still not think Andrei would be the best ruler to succeed me? Look at how much he has done over the past year!"

Isabel fought to maintain a straight face. "What about what I have done over the past months?" she asked bitterly. "Why would you never even consider that I might make a good ruler too?"

Henri sighed. "I cannot deny that you have made an admirable effort over the past few weeks," he conceded. "But Andrei still has more experience than you. He has been involved in governance since a very young age. Jardinia could really use his expertise, and I do not see that he would wish to remain here unless he were sovereign."

Isabel felt a sharp pain in her gut. "Did he tell you that?"

"Not in so many words, but he and I were just discussing his motives behind marrying you in the first place," he said. "If he cannot have sovereignty, then he may ask for an annulment."

Isabel went pale.

"My child," Henri went on, "just let him be king. You can rule by his side. You can still remain involved with the court and the council. And your children will still inherit the throne."

Isabel abruptly walked away, ignoring his protests at her rudeness. She really hated him at that moment. And she really needed to be alone right now. She thought her heart might be breaking.

 **A/N: Quick update! Next one might take a while, but Chapter 12 has big developments coming! :D**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Minor updates to Chapter 10 (sorry, I keep doing this!). So...I really like how this chapter turned out, not only because a lot is happening, but also because of how it ends. Please let me know what you think!**

 **Chapter 12**

Isabel remained in her chambers. She had lost. What was the point anymore fighting to prove her worth? But no, this was still her kingdom, she had a duty to stay involved and look out for the interest of her people. But she could never come to love Andrei. How could she love a man who cared more for her throne than for herself? She had spent three days fighting her anger and frustration in turn, and she had also been suppressing the urge to start tearing at her pillows and bed hangings like she used to when she was first cursed.

On the fourth day, Lisette informed her that Christien had come to see her. Isabel was surprised. She received him in the parlor outside her suite. What he had to say was even more surprising.

"Good afternoon, my princess," he said. "I wanted to speak to you about something." She nodded for him to continue. "I have been offered a position with very lucrative pay in Lavigne. Queen Adaline wishes to build a rose garden of her own."

"What? When did she send word?"

"She sent word today through Prince Andrei." Andrei had been visiting Lavigne during this time, for the first time in many weeks. After hesitating he added, "I believe he recommended me to her."

"He wishes to send you away!" Isabel lashed out angrily.

"My princess, I shall not leave your services if you do not wish me to," assured Christien.

Isabel sighed. "Chrisitien, do as you wish, not as I wish. Do you wish to go?"

Christien hesitated. Isabel wondered if seeing her face had finally cured him of his infatuation. She had been hoping it had.

"How long do you have to decide?" she asked him.

"Three days."

"Very well, then. Take your time, and if you decide to go, I shall have no objections."

"Thank you, your highness," said Christien, a little hurt. Part of him had hoped she would ask him to stay. But he was also excited to have been offered this opportunity. He may have mentioned that someday he hoped to travel through Lavigne and learn about the vineyards to Prince Andrei during their polite attempts at conversation. If the prince had arranged for him to work in Lavigne for a few months, or maybe years, now was as good a time as any. He bowed and left the room.

Isabel felt extremely angry at Andrei. He had no business trying to get rid of her gardener. She went in search of him and was told her was in Prince Henri's sitting room. She stormed inside and found them looking over some paperwork.

"Why are you sending away my gardener?" she demanded before either of them could voice their surprise at the intrusion.

Andrei quickly stood up. "I merely told him about a good opportunity-"

"Don't make excuses, you wanted to send him away," she accused him.

"Now, Isabel," her father interjected sternly, "Don't you think you are getting upset over a trivial issue?"

And then Isabel hit her breaking point.

"That's enough!" she screamed at him, and in her anger, the claws on one of her hands tore through her gloves. She almost looked like a beast about to attack. The two men stared at her in shock and Isabel struggled to compose herself. She ran out of the room. Down the hall was a small parlor that used to be her nursery many years ago. She shut the door, threw off her hat and veil and climbed into the window seat and drew the curtains. She used to hide there as a child, but now she sat there clutching her knees, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

She heard the door open.

"Isabel." It was Andrei. She tried to be quiet unsuccessfully; he located her and drew back the curtains.

"Go away," she screamed. "I could hurt you."

"No you won't," he assured her, getting down on his knees and gripping both her hands.

"I'm really sorry, Isabel," he said gently. "You're right; I wanted to send him away. I was jealous and I acted very foolishly and selfishly."

She looked up in surprise at his blunt honesty. "I hope you can forgive me," he beseeched, gripping her hands tighter. He could feel the claws through her gloves, especially through the torn one, but he ignored them.

She tried to say something but instead burst out in tears again.

"I'm so sorry," he said again softly, reaching up with both hands to wipe her tears, again ignoring the feeling of the fur. She put her hands on his wrists.

"I am so ashamed of what happened in there," she whispered. "When I was first cursed, this happened every time I was angry. It felt like there was some kind of beast inside me. I thought I had learned to control it, but the past few days the beast has been fighting to surface, and I'm afraid I can't stop it anymore."

Andrei looked pained. He climbed onto the seat beside her and drew her to him in a tight embrace. She took in a sharp breath, but then nestled against him, resting her head on his shoulder. She felt the tension slowly drain from her body. "I'm sorry; I'm so sorry," he was whispering into her hair.

"It's not your fault that this happened to me," she murmured.

Now Andrei took in a sharp breath and then let out a long sad sigh and held her even tighter. "I'm going to make everything alright," he said, kissing the top of her head. She closed her eyes and listened to his heart beat. She decided she was going to believe him. She didn't want to think about losing her throne to him anymore. She wanted to stay like this in his arms and let him make everything alright.

"Dearest," he called to her after a while. She smiled at the term of endearment. "I went to see Ioan so he could help me draw up a new contract; and I was just showing it to your father." She opened her eyes immediately and listened carefully. "Upon your coronation, you will retain sovereignty, provided I am your chief adviser and have the power to act on your behalf when necessary."

She drew back and looked at him in surprise. "Truly?" she asked. He nodded. "And you won't leave?" Her eyes were wide with earnestness. Her eyes always grew wide when she was surprised or when she was being sincere and it always made Andrei smile.

"I won't leave," he said softly, pulling her close. She threw her arms around his neck, the tears still coming. "Thank you," she managed to say and could not find any other words. He held her for a long time, and then said, "Shall we go and sign the contract now?" Isabel smiled and then she nodded.

* * *

Prince Henri was a little surprised when Isabel and Andrei came back to his sitting room hand in hand. Isabel looked radiant, though he could see that her face was tear-stricken from the damp fur on her cheeks. But she had got exactly what she wanted after all.

He had been surprised when Andrei came to him with the contract.

"Are you certain?" he had asked.

"Yes, sir," the younger prince nodded looking determined. "This is the right decision." Henri could tell this was a difficult decision for him. Even now the prince looked more apprehensive than happy. He must really love Isabel, thought the regent in wonder. He had always known that Andrei's interest in his daughter were for political reasons; and he had assumed that his recent attempt to charm her had been in the hopes of securing heirs; but he had not expected Andrei had truly fallen in love with her.

Isabel barely listened to what her father was saying about responsibility and gratitude as she signed the contract. She was dizzy from joy. Andrei signed too, but he was on edge. He kept looking at her, as if searching for something that wasn't there.

"What is the matter?" she asked, suddenly wary.

"It is nothing," he said, starting to pace. "Come with me to the library?" he asked stopping abruptly in his tracks.

"Alright," Isabel said uncertainly. She put her veil back on, bade Prince Henri good night, and walked with Andrei towards the library. Something was bothering him, and Isabel felt her joy replaced with dread.

"Are you regretting your decision?" she asked, her heart sinking.

"No, no, no," he said quickly. "Of course not."

When they reached the library, he didn't say anything. He just took a seat and started fidgeting.

Isabel took off her veil and sat down next to him.

"Andrei, what's wrong?" she demanded.

"It's nothing," he said, but he wouldn't calm down.

"Do you feel any different?" he asked her.

"Yes, I am starting to get very worried by your behavior," she observed sharply. But she tried to get him to talk so he could calm down, but he was starting to get angry. She had never seen him angry, or indeed display this much emotion. This was not going to be a happy start, Isabel realized, her heart sinking.

After pacing for some more time, Andrei told her she should get some rest. Then he left rather abruptly, leaving her feeling confused and upset once again.

 **A/N: So, here's a twist! Thank you to everyone who has followed the story this far, and especially to Be Rose for providing really great feedback! For those who have been following the story, please do leave your thoughts below. Was the ending confusing? I will explain what's going on in the next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Maybe the ending to the last chapter wasn't as confusing as I thought?** **Be Rose** **could tell why the curse didn't break, lol. But I do want to point out that the title and the responsibilities that come exclusively with the title are important to both Andrei and Isabel, and it is effectively what they're fighting over. Because whoever maintains sovereignty, the other will still have the chance to be very involved with ruling the kingdom. So, it was fair to assume that "giving up being king" should have been enough to break the curse, but as we know, the curse got messed up, so it doesn't work predictably. In this chapter, Andrei tries to figure out why it didn't break.**

 **Chapter 13**

Andrei _was_ angry. It should have worked. He had signed the contract. He had given up his dream of being king for her. The curse should have broken.

Now he rode through the Forest, looking for Delphine.

The past few days had been difficult for him. His mind had been in major conflict. Isabel had asked him directly if she could retain her sovereignty. He had been dreading this moment since the day she came to sit with them in the library, but he had convinced himself it wouldn't happen. But now that she really had asked, he found himself unable to say no. How could he say no, and expect her to love him like he had come to hope she would? He had seen her show time again that she truly cared about her kingdom and her people, and if he was honest with himself, no matter how seriously he took his duties as ruler, he would never be able to care in the same way she did. She deserved to be ruler, and he had taken it from her.

But he deserved to be king. He had worked for this his entire life. Would he have set his sights on Jardinia had he known Isabel truly wanted to be ruler? Andrei could not be sure. But now that he had successfully secured his life's ambition, he didn't want to give it up.

But he had tricked Isabel into a marriage she did not want and doomed her to live with a hideous appearance and uncontrollable anger. He wanted to break the curse, but he didn't want to lose his chance to be king.

While Andrei tried to gather his thoughts, she started to pull away. Andrei could not bear it. She was spending more time in the garden, and his mind had started to twist in jealousy. It had been very evident to him that her gardener was in love with her, but she had never showed any signs of reciprocation, so it had never bothered him. But the day he observed them from the windows, he saw that she had removed her veil in front of him. She had not shown her face to anyone save Lady Miel, her handmaiden, and her father before the day on the frozen pond. When she removed her veil for him, they had shared something special. Why would she do the same for her gardener? And he had overheard Isabel's handmaiden tell her that the gardener's love may be strong enough to break the curse! Only he had the power to break her curse – though his ambition wouldn't let him give up the power had worked hard to obtain – and it made him angry that such a notion was even suggested to her. In a fit of jealousy he found a way to send away the gardener, but he realized this would do nothing to endear him to Isabel. He only hurt her again and again and the guilt was driving him insane.

He finally went to Prince Henri and explained what Isabel had asked of him.

"What put this idea back to her head?" cried the regent.

"She has made tremendous progress over the past few weeks," Andrei calmly explained though his mind was a tangle of emotions. "I believe it has made her reconsider whether she is able to be ruler."

"What did you tell her?"

"I said I would speak with you. I didn't know what to tell her. I had married her only so I could become king, but-" Andrei didn't know how to finish the sentence.

Henri sighed. "I thought perhaps she had acclimatized herself to the marriage, but she is so stubborn. You married her despite her beastly appearance because you wanted the responsibility of ruling Jardinia. And she asks you to give that up?" He shook his head.

Andrei resisted the urge to shout at him. How could he speak about his own daughter in this way? He never bothered to see her for who she really was. But how was Andrei any better? Henri was clearly going to be no help in discussing the matter. Andrei couldn't be frank with him because Henri would never understand. Isabel was the only person in all of Jardinia around whom he felt comfortable being himself and speaking his mind instead of maintaining the exterior that everyone wanted from him. Even if he wore a mask in front of her, she would see through it anyway. She understood him in a way no one else did.

But she didn't know the secret he was keeping from her. And if she ever found out she would never forgive him. He had to break the curse, so they could put it past them and spend their lives together. He did not care what she looked like, but that didn't mean he liked that she was covered in fur. And he hated the claws. Many times, he would stare at her portrait longingly, desperately wishing he had never met Delphine. He wanted badly to kiss her, to touch her; but he couldn't bring himself to do it; and he had only himself to blame.

Would she have ever married him though if she hadn't been cursed? Andrei didn't think so. Even if she had hated the marriage at first, now she cared for him, he was sure of that. But unless he gave her back her kingdom, would she accept him as her husband?

So what if he wasn't king? As the queen's husband he would still wield plenty of power; and she needed him. She needed his counsel and guidance. He would be involved with everything. He could make sure of that in a new contract. And things could go on as they were. She could go on taking responsibility of the court and he knew she would rely on him heavily. He loved how much she valued his opinion, and how important his counsel was to her. He loved hearing her perspectives on his ideas. She always thought of the interests of the people whereas he thought of the interest of the kingdom. They needed each other; and they formed an effective partnership, a partnership that had started to extend beyond Jardinia. Isabel was even willing to discuss his duties towards Fier. He had been quite neglectful of them, which had made his brothers unhappy, but with Isabel's encouragement, Andrei had started to fulfill his obligations towards his homeland. She cared about his duties even if they had nothing to do with her own interests. How could he have ever thought she was unfeeling and selfish? He wished he could be as supportive of her as she was of him, but that meant giving everything up. Then again he knew he was truly happy when he was with her, and he would surely lose that unless he was willing to do this for her.

With no one else to talk to, he rushed to Lavigne. Ioan had never seen his brother so upset; and he couldn't understand why Andrei was so uncharacteristically overcome with this much guilt and self-loathing. But he could see that Andrei had all but made up his mind to give his wife what she wanted. Ioan hadn't thought he would ever see his brother so much in love, but since he had finally come to care for someone above himself, he should encourage him to think of her first. So he gave him the final nudge and helped him write the new contract.

Even as he showed the contract to Prince Henri, Andrei was unsure of himself. How could he give up everything he had worked for? But then he witnessed how much pain the curse caused his beloved and he hated himself for it. He hated to see her so unhappy, and he hated even more the fact that he was the cause of it. When he finally took her in his arms and felt her relax against him, he was sure that this was what he wanted. He wanted a life with her, even if it meant giving up everything he had worked for, especially since he had wrongly snatched it from her. Somewhere along the way, Isabel had become more important than his ambitions.

But it did not work. He signed the contract. He gave up Jardinia. But she remained cursed. He needed to know why, and he needed to know now.

* * *

When Delphine finally appeared before him, he did not waste a moment on pleasantries. He demanded answers.

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe you truly did not give up your heart's desire," she suggested. "Perhaps you truly need to give up Jardinia and not hope to rule by her side. Or perhaps your heart's desire has changed. I am sorry. It was so long ago at this point, I cannot recall the specifics of my thought when I cast the spell."

Andrei screamed in frustration and kicked at the log on which Delphine sat. Could she have made things any worse for him? It had been a huge mistake to trust her. He may have convinced himself to give up the notion of being king, but he would not give up the right to rule by his queen's side; and he could not begin to even entertain the thought of giving up Isabel.

Delphine watched him gloomily, but then she grew alert.

"Why have you let her come into the Forest by herself? I warned you not to!"

"What do you mean?" demanded Andrei.

"She is in the Forest," she said slowly, her eyes looking into the distance. "I can sense her. But it is dangerous for her to be here. The Forest's magic might take over her mind."

Andrei stared at her, horrified. It suddenly occurred to him that she had been acting strange ever since the day they rode by the edge of the Forest. Without wasting another moment, mounted his horse and set off to find her. What was she doing in the Forest? Had he followed him? Did she discover his secret? But search and search as he might, he could not find her. Eventually, he found her filly, abandoned, and his panic began to rise. He cried out to Delphine for help, and was relieved to see her come to him.

"I can help you find your princess," she informed him. "But if I do, will you consider my debt repaid?"

"Yes, fine, please, just help me find her." Andrei was desperate.

Delphine turned back into her fairy form and zoomed into the forest. Andrei followed as best as he could.

It was at the crack of dawn that they finally saw a figure lying on the ground underneath a giant tree root.

Andrei ran to her immediately. "Isabel," he called, taking her unconscious body in his arms, and shaking her in panic. "Isabel, my love, please wake up."

Delphine was once again in her human form and she knelt beside Isabel. She touched the vein at the base of her throat.

"She's alright," she said in surprise. "She must have quite the strength of mind to have resisted the Forest, but it has taken a huge toll on her."

"Please make it stop," Andrei begged, looking over the scratches and bruises on her bare arms.

"There is nothing I can do anymore." Delphine shook her head. "You must never let her come near the Forest. I don't know that she can resist it another time. Andrei, I am truly sorry."

"I wish I had never set you free from that trap," he lamented as he picked up Isabel and carried her back to his horse. He never looked back at the fairy.

Isabel regained some of her consciousness when he tried to lift her up onto his horse. She mostly whimpered incoherently and called out his name. He did his best to hold her against him with one hand while holding the reins with the other. He tried to assure her that he was here now and he would keep her safe.

"Why were you angry with me?" she cried in her still mostly unconscious state.

"I wasn't angry with you, dearest," he tried to console her, not sure if she could hear him. "Why did you come into the Forest alone at night? You've told me how much this place frightens you and who knows what could have-"

"I love you."

The jolt from her words almost made Andrei fall off his horse. He had hoped to hear them so badly, but now they made him hate himself. He surely didn't deserve it. He did this to her. He had tried to take everything from her. He put her in danger.

Yet despite it all, he had fallen more deeply in love with her than he ever could have imagined.

"I will set things right," he promised, holding her tightly to him.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Andrei paced about his chambers, his mind in conflict again. He had just promised her he would set things right. But how could he? Of course she was unconscious and may not even have heard him, and he was quite certain that she hadn't learned anything about Delphine. But something had to change. Andrei tried to gather his thoughts so he could work out what he really wanted.

He had decided to concede to her wishes to maintain sovereignty because he wanted her to be happy, because he had come understand that she really wanted it, and he had come to realize that he had wrongfully taken it from her. He re-negotiated the contract because he wanted to convey to her that he loved her and he wanted to simply be with her the rest of his life. It was difficult for him to give up the one thing he had wanted his whole life, but he consoled himself with the knowledge that he could still be actively involved with the kingdom from her side and that the curse would surely be broken. Maybe then he could bring himself to properly express his feelings to her.

Alas the curse was more difficult to break than he had thought. He had to give up his heart's desire. But his heart's desire was no longer just a title. There was too much that he would have to give up. It didn't matter what she looked like as long as they were together. He was not going to care about the fur. After all, he had been able to overlook it every time he looked into her eyes. And just last evening when he finally held her, he had not once thought about the fur or the claws. He had only wanted to comfort her. He would just have to live with the fact that his wife had an unfortunate deformity. It would be his punishment, for after all, it was his own doing.

What did he think would have happened if the curse broke after they signed the contract? There would have been confusion, and he would have played along. Frankly, she and Henri would have been too relieved and happy to be rid of the curse to spend too much time worrying about why it had broken. They would have come up with some explanation. And they would have celebrated together. But he would have to carry around the secret his whole life. Andrei usually didn't have much reason to be grossly dishonest, though when he settled in Jardinia, he had convinced himself that he wouldn't let it bother him. But if the past few weeks had shown him anything, the burden of the secret would have plagued him for the rest of his life. He would never be able to tell anyone. Not only would it be disastrous for his prospects in Jadinia, but he would lose her forever.

He couldn't bear to lose her just as they had begun to share their lives with each other. She had begun with relying on him for advice and guidance. But now she felt comfortable enough around him to share her wishes, her hopes and dreams. She had started to confide in him. And he felt he could be himself around her. He wanted to confide in her too, and share everything with her. But he was forcing himself into a situation where he couldn't be honest with her.

But he was thinking of only himself again. She may have accepted her appearance, but the curse affected her in more ways than that. The Forest had played with her mind, and she may have even more trouble staying in control of her emotions now. What if the Forest tried to draw her back? He could try to ensure she never set foot near there again, but could he really take that risk? And he shuddered as he recalled the fear and panic he felt when he couldn't find her that night. There could be nothing worse than losing her, but even worse would be losing her to a mistake that he had made.

He would not put her at risk. And he had promised to set things right. He knew what he had to do, and he knew the consequences would be harsh. But he was going to give up his heart's desire.

* * *

Isabel's memories of the previous night were very fuzzy. She was convinced Andrei was regretting his decision and was angry with her, and she had wanted to confront him. She did not want to wait till the morning, but where was he going so late at night? She followed him. She didn't care that she had to go on horseback. But once she got to the Forest, she could not remember what happened. She had scattered memories of a struggle of some sort in her mind, of Andrei trying to comfort her, of him holding her securely on horseback, of him carrying her to bed. And now she wanted so badly to speak to him and ask him about what had happened.

When Lisette came in, she was smiling. She had been searching for the princess when she had walked into the parlor, and had left promptly when she realized the princess was mending her quarrel with her husband. When the princess did not return to her chambers that night, she assumed perhaps they had decided to stay up late together, and she was bursting to hear all about it. But then she noticed the princess was highly agitated. As she helped her get dressed, both girls wondered at the scratches and bruises on her body. Isabel was visibly upset that she could not recall how she had got them. When there was a knock on her door, Lisette went to answer it. When she announced Andrei was waiting to see her outside, Isabel did not bother with her gloves or veil and went to him at once.

He looked like he had not got any sleep last night and seemed much more agitated than she was.

"Andrei, what's the matter?" she asked, concerned, rushing over to him.

Instead of saying anything, he pulled her into a tight embrace, and before she knew what was happening, he kissed her.

He had to kiss her at least once. He might never get another chance, given what he was about to do. He cursed himself for not being able to bring himself to kiss her before. Why had he let the fur bother him? It didn't matter anymore, not when he could feel her trembling in his arms.

She was still not in control of her emotions, and she felt almost paralyzed. The ground had disappeared beneath her feet, and she had to hold on to him for support. She had also never been kissed before. She had never let any man ever come this close to her, and goodness knew she had never deemed anyone who might have wanted to kiss her worthy of her affections.

She was still reeling from the kiss when he began to talk. She tried to focus on what he was saying, something about a fairy who owed him a favor.

 _A fairy!_

"I asked her to curse you," he finally said.

"What?" Isabel could not think clearly. What was he saying?

"I wanted to be king of Jardinia and I thought if you were cursed and if I could break it, you would be obliged to marry me. But the curse went wrong, and got tied to my desire to be king." He was talking really fast as if to get it over with. "But you married me anyway, and I regretted what I did so much. I wanted to break the curse so many times, but the only way was to give up Jardinia and I was not prepared to do that."

Isabel took a few steps back, though still not sure on her feet. She couldn't understand what was happening. Had she walked into a particularly horrible nightmare? Andrei did this to her? He had wanted to harm her? Slowly, she began to feel the rage build up. She would not be able to control it.

"I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am," he was saying now. "But now I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to break it. I'm going to the council room now to make my confession-"

Before he had finished, she had hit him across the face. Even as her hand came down on him, Isabel was aware that her claws were out and she could hurt him. She tried to deflect the blow at the last moment, but it still cut him across the cheek.

Andrei didn't flinch. He wiped his cheek with one hand and looked at the blood.

"I should go now," he said, walking away quickly. "The morning's council meeting has already started."

Isabel was supposed to be in attendance too, but she hadn't remembered. She didn't particularly care right now. She sank to the floor, clutching her hair in her hands. How could this be happening? How could she have been so betrayed by him? She had always known he had been after her crown. But how could he have deliberately plotted to destroy her life?

* * *

"There you are," remarked Prince Henri, sounding a little annoyed, as Andrei walked into the council room. "You know we're supposed to discuss the new contract, and you're both late. Where is Isa-"

He stopped abruptly when he noticed the cut on Andrei's cheek. The room had grown silent.

"What happened to your face?" he gasped, and one of the lords rushed to fetch a physician.

"That can wait," Andrei insisted. "I have something important to say."

Then in front of the council, he made his confession. Prince Henri had gone pale.

"What are you saying?" he asked slowly.

"I am responsible for the princess's curse," Andrei sighed, wincing at the pain in his cheek.

"You are confessing to treason, sir?" asked one of the councilmen in shock.

"Yes," he responded, his voice starting to break.

"Then we shall have to put you under arrest," he replied, and another went to fetch the guards.

"I understand."

* * *

He said he was going to confess to the council. Why would he do that? Isabel tried to remember his confession to her. He said it would break the curse. But he would be admitting to treason. What would they do to him? The penalty for treason in Jardinia was harsh. She had to get to the council room.

* * *

The guards came to escort Andrei to his chambers where he would be placed under house arrest. The physician would be sent there to attend to the wound in his face. King Ioan was to be sent for immediately.

And that was when Isabel burst into the room, still without her veil and without her gloves.

The room stared at her in shock. Prince Henri quickly recovered and rushed over to her.

"My daughter," he said, taking Isabel in his arms, "my lovely, beautiful daughter."

When he let her go, Isabel looked down at her hands and saw no fur and no claws. She touched her face and felt the smooth skin.

"The curse is broken, Father," she whispered, her eyes wide in shock.

"Yes, my dear," her father responded, still holding her close. Isabel looked around to see the guards take Andrei away. His face was still bleeding. He was looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

 **A/N: The curse is broken! As you can tell, the story is near its close, but there are a bunch of threads I still need to tie up. I want to thank those of you who read this far once again (and especially those who left reviews!), and I am really curious to know how you want the story to end. I do have the ending planned out, but I am really curious what the readers think of the characters and how they want the story to turn out for them. Well, it's really Andrei's fate that's the most uncertain at this point, and one of the reasons I wanted to share this story was because I really wanted to explore "what he deserves". Though I am also curious to know how you would like things to end for Isabel and the others. 'Till next time!**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: I'm sorry I've been a while in updating. I'm afraid updates are going to be a tad slow, but at least we're close to the finish. I do want to take a moment to thank the new reviewers: savethemadscientist, TheArtistNextDoor, treadingfire, 13-Red-Cards, and Answer! I was SO happy to receive your reviews! And thank you especially to Be Rose, 13-Red-Cards and Answer for your detailed thoughts and the fun PM discussions! I can't begin to tell you how much I've enjoyed them! Hope to hear from you soon!**

 **Chapter 15**

King Ioan was shocked to receive urgent summons from Jardinia regarding his youngest brother. Andrei had been charged with treason and Ioan's presence had been requested for the hearing. Andrei had only just decided that he would not assume sovereignty when the regent stepped down, how could he have committed treason so soon after? There had to be a misunderstanding. He should sort it out before George finds out anything.

Jardinia appeared normal. The palace was going about business as usual. The mood in the council room, however, was tense. The hearing was being held privately and quietly. To his indignation, Prince Henri interrogated Ioan on his knowledge of the princess's condition. He knew nothing besides the fact that she had wanted to step down and pass sovereignty to her husband due to an illness she had contracted. The circumstances were unusual, but he had not spared it much thought. Besides, he was under the impression that she was well on her way to recovery and had changed her mind, and hadn't it been decided that she would be queen? Ioan was aghast when he was questioned about fairies and curses, and he really had no inkling of the mischief in which Andrei had got mixed up. But now, Andrei's recent behavior made sense. This was why he had been so agitated and remorseful. Ioan felt a rush of anger building up that he had to struggle to contain. He should have known Andrei didn't simply get lucky with Jardinia. But he expected better from Andrei than to make such a mess of the situation. This was going to look really bad for Fier, and all of the Inghetlands. Andrei had better have a plan to talk himself out of this one.

But Andrei was infuriatingly quiet during his hearing. He did stress he had not intended for the curse to have lasted this long, but he accepted full responsibility for it, and for the subsequent harm it had caused Isabel. To Ioan's relief, he also made it clear that Lavigne and Fier were in no way complicit with his scheme and that he had acted alone. In order to ensure the curse does not return, he was ready accept banishment from Jardinia. Ioan was frustrated that he was not arguing against being charged with treason. At the time the curse took effect, Andrei had not yet married into Jardinia or sworn his allegiance to the kingdom. There were several technicalities he could exploit. But it seemed like Andrei was nervous he might bring the curse back if he defended his position too much.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. He had done a thorough job of winning over the council, and Prince Henri seemed to be the only one who was upset. The rest of the council were tense out of fear of upsetting their regent. Many on the council were ready to overlook Andrei's offense in consideration of his services over the past year and for the huge difference he had made. Andrei had looked hopeful for a moment before he realized that this might not have the desired effect. Lord Francis was the only one who wanted him publicly exposed, and then Ioan was forced to plead on his brother's behalf.

Prince Henri didn't want his daughter involved in a scandal and agreed that the matter would be taken care of quietly. He moved to charge Andrei with deceit, with which the council could not disagree. He issued a banishment from Jardinia, and recommended Andrei leave the Foretlands altogether. His marriage to Isabel was going to be dissolved quietly and the annulment would be announced publicly at a later date after confusion from his sudden departure dies down.

Andrei was prepared to leave right away with his brother, but he requested one last meeting with Isabel. When Henri refused, he begged. Isabel had not wished to be part of the proceedings, and she did not wish to leave her chambers. At Andrei's desperation, Henri relented and sent for her, but she refused to come. Ioan thought he would have to drag him away, but Andrei came. Ioan was furious, but Andrei did not have the energy to fight with him right now. He waited till he could retire to his chambers in Lavigne and then shut himself in.

* * *

Henri was afraid his daughter might retreat back into her shell like she had done when the curse had been first placed upon her. However, her coronation was mere weeks away at this point, and Isabel knew she did not have the luxury to wallow in her misery. She put on a brave face and attended court and council. But she remained grim and sullen and for several nights, Lisette had to stay up with her until she could manage to cry herself to sleep.

The news of Andrei's departure had not quite spread through the palace. For some time the staff thought he was making a prolonged visit to his homeland, but confusion started to spread at his continued absence so close to the coronation. The council was bid their time before announcing that he had left Jardinia indefinitely.

They received little word from Lavigne, but Miel soon came to be aware of certain portions of what had transpired, though she was not told the whole story. She asked leave for a few days to return home. Isabel was extremely thankful for her company and told her everything. Miel was sad to see her friend so heartbroken, and did her best to be of comfort.

She waited a long time to give her the letter Andrei had begged her to take with her. Isabel did not wish to even touch it at first but at length she asked Miel to read it to her.

 _My dearest Isabel,_

 _I know I do not have the right to address you as such, but I could not bring myself to be formal. I have had to discard many letters before finally settling on this one. I know I do not even have the right to write to you. I know what I have done is inexcusable, and I shall refrain from asking your forgiveness. I only ask that you allow me the chance to explain myself._

 _I was selfish and unfeeling. I had set my sights on Jardinia, and after meeting you in Lavigne, I knew it would be exceedingly difficult to win your heart. When you insulted me that night during Ioan's wedding, I was angry. My marriage to you would have secured for me the future I wanted; and I was frustrated that you were so determined to hate me. The fairy owed me a favor, and when she suggested she might be able to help, I took the opportunity. I only thought about myself. I had never stopped to consider what it might do to you. Of course it was the worst decision I ever made in my life. Not only did the curse go wrong, but it put you in danger. It was never meant to be permanent, and I never realized you could be in danger from the Forest._

 _I am sincere when I say I have regretted my actions many times over the course of the past year. I really wanted to lift the curse, but I had finally achieved that of which I had always dreamed, so for a long time, I could not bring myself to give it up. But I think you changed me too much. I came to learn to care for others, but I came to care for you more than I can ever explain. When you began to pull away from me, I could not bear it. I acted foolishly by trying to send away your gardener, but I finally became willing to give up direct control of the throne if I could break the curse and be with you. But the curse did not lift even when I signed the contract. I could not understand it. I sought out the fairy to demand an explanation. She said I would have to give up everything – my ambitions, my dreams, the kingdom that I had worked so hard to win, and you. I could never have found the strength to lose you._

 _Why did you follow me into the Forest that night? The fairy said that the Forest had taken over your mind and I would have lost you forever. She said you must have incredible strength of mind to have resisted the Forest, but you may not be able to resist it another time. That was when I finally knew I could not risk letting this happen to you ever again, even if it meant I had to give up everything I held dear. Thus I resolved to confess._

 _I know you hated me when I married you, but I had hoped that you might have come to care for me over the last few months we have spent together. That night in the Forest, you were barely conscious, but you told me that you loved me. I knew then that I did not deserve your love. I know I have lost your love forever, but please believe me when I say that I love you too._

 _I know what I have done is unforgivable, but I hope I have finally done right by you, by giving everything back to you. I can only hope that you have a prosperous life as the ruler of Jardinia and I know that you will be remembered as one of the greatest rulers of the Foretlands. I only ask that you do not remember me too poorly._

 _With my sincerest well-wishes for your future,_

 _Andrei_

Both girls were quiet after the letter was read. Isabel kept thinking about what it had said. Now she finally knew what had happened in the Forest that night. She had told him she loved him? The Forest had taken over her mind? No wonder she could not recall anything. But how did she manage to not lose her mind then? She asked Miel to hand over the letter and she read it again. _She said you must have incredible strength of mind to have resisted the Forest._

"He thinks my life will just go back to normal now the curse is broken," she commented, looking over the last paragraph.

"I don't see why it cannot," Miel said gently. "You will become queen in a few weeks just like you had always wanted. You will rule under your father's guidance just like you had always expected. And someday you will make a suitable match with someone who will respect you as queen and you will have a family and heirs to succeed you."

Isabel shook her head. "I have changed too much, Miel. I don't view life the same way anymore. I no longer expect life to fall into place as if it were my birthright. I have to work hard to earn my place as queen. And I don't know that I can bear to be married again."

"You were barely married the first time around," Miel teased gently. Isabel found herself laughing bitterly. "No, you are right, I was not," she said, closing her eyes. "I suppose Andrei will try to marry into some other monarchy?" she mused. "Or will he go back to the Inghetlands?"

"I don't know that he will," Miel responded uncertainly. "He stays shut up in his chambers on most days."

"What?" asked Isabel, surprised. "This isn't like him."

"King Ioan has been rather hard on him, and King George of Fier is furious. He had actually refused to let Prince Andrei return home."

Miel noticed a look of concern on her friend's face. "The confession seems to have even harder consequences for him than I had first thought," Isabel observed. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I didn't know if I even ought to have said anything, I'm sorry."

"No, I am glad you told me."

* * *

When Miel left to return to Lavigne, Isabel was overcome by a sense of loneliness. She was thankful for the company of Lisette, whose loyalty had not wavered even though they no longer shared the tragedy of disfigurement. But now she was consumed all day with affairs of the kingdom. It was very painful, because whether she dealt with the construction of the southern town, finalizing the negotiations with Fier regarding the emigrating ironsmiths, or implementing the processes put in place to train the teachers to provide better education, everything reminded her of Andrei. The councilmen were willing to discuss and counsel her on all matters, but they all seemed rather disheartened by the loss of Andrei. They had been trying to go about their duties without making any reference to Andrei, but because he had been so involved with everything, this was proving to be a challenge. Isabel was able to take over many of his responsibilities because she had been closely involved with them, but it was still proving to be a struggle because even though she had access to all his notes and documentation, it was difficult to sort through them without his help. One of the councilmen had actually proposed they set up a correspondence with Andrei, but Henri had immediately ruled it as out of the question. But both he and Isabel had to admit that during council meetings the question of what Andrei would have said or done always hung in the air.

Her father had become a lot more supportive since Andrei left, though. He had essentially stepped down and let Isabel take charge during the final days of his regency. He had been deeply hurt by Andrei. He felt great regret that he had shown preference to someone who had been the cause of his daughter's misfortune, and he wanted to make it up to her. He knew that Isabel had made great efforts to learn to be a better ruler, and resolved not to lose his faith in her again. Isabel welcomed his support, though she knew she would never quite forgive him for refusing to believe in her, but very slowly, they began to mend their relationship.

Isabel could not stop thinking about what Miel had told her, or about the letter. She had read it so many times that she almost had it memorized. But with each time she read it, one fact began to sink in. He was saying goodbye. She was never going to see him again. The thought was almost worse than the knowledge that he had been behind the curse.

One day her father saw her with the letter and inquired about its contents. She didn't want to show it to him, but she told him about what had happened in the Forest and how it has motivated Andrei to finally confess.

"I had wondered too why he chose to confess so close to your coronation," he remarked. "I thought maybe he could not carry around the guilt anymore." She could see the sadness in his eyes.

Isabel hesitated before she asked her question. "Do you miss him, Father?"

Prince Henri tried to carefully word his answer. "Well, I have never felt betrayed by anyone more."

"But he had the curse placed on me before he even came to Jardinia, before you came to rely on him so much."

"You're saying that he changed after he came here?" her father asked. Isabel nodded just a little. "He certainly grew as leader and learned to expand his perspectives. He would have made a great ruler." Prince Henri sighed.

"You still believe he might have been better for Jardinia than I?"

Prince Henri took her hands in his. "Isabel, I know you resented my clear preference for Andrei. Truth be told, I strongly believe in his competence in matters of governance and I know I could have left matters in his hands confidently. But over the past few months, you have shown a real desire to learn to rule, and I am not worried about leaving the throne to you anymore. I believe, with a little bit of guidance, you can be a great ruler." _I can only hope that you have a prosperous life as the ruler of Jardinia and I know that you will be remembered as one of the greatest rulers of the Foretlands._

Isabel smiled. She got up to sit next to him and he put an arm around her. He felt a little ashamed of himself. He had been so caught up in finally getting the son he had always wanted, that he had neglected his daughter these past few months. And, he recalled with a greater surge of guilt, that it had been Andrei who had guided her through her lessons about governing, not he. And he had pushed her so hard to like this man, and she had fallen in love with him only to have her heart cruelly broken.

"My darling," he said. "I have been rather neglectful of you, haven't I? I never even told you how proud I am that you have come to be so mature and responsible and compassionate." No longer was she the spoiled, arrogant, rude princess to whom he hesitated to pass on his responsibilities.

"Father," said Isabel. "I have been thinking about something a lot recently. I changed so much after being cursed. I – I don't know if I might have become the person I am today if I had not been cursed."

Her father sighed. "I can only be glad that it has been lifted now, that you have become the person you are today, and that I will be so proud of you when you become queen."

"Father," she went on, trying to express her full thought. "Did you know King George refuses to let Andrei return to Fier?"

"Where did you hear this?" he asked her. After she mentioned her source, he went on. "Yes, I received a letter of apology from King George himself. He claimed Andrei had brought disgrace upon their family and shall be punished. I did not mention it for I did not wish to upset you."

And it did upset her. "How is he going to punish him?" she asked.

"He didn't say," Henri replied. "But I suppose maybe he banished Andrei from Fier as well."

"Do you think perhaps we ought to pardon him?"

Prince Henri blinked at her in surprise. "Do you want him to return, or are you hoping a pardon might let him return home?"

Isabel stammered with her response. "Let him return home," she said finally. "I don't know that he will want to come back here."

She was starting to get rather distressed, so Prince Henri decided not to discuss the issue further and said she was at full liberty to issue an pardon if she so wished.

She would do it, she decided. It would be the first thing she would do as queen.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Christien had almost made up his mind to take the offer from Lavigne, but the next day Lisette came to him with news of Isabel. None of the servants were aware of what had transpired, but Prince Andrei had left and was not going to return. Christien managed to get the whole story out of her. He was shocked. His dislike for Prince Andrei had always been for Isabel's sake, but impartially speaking, he had had no objections to him as ruler. He resented the prince for taking advantage of Isabel's condition to corner her into a marriage, but he had never thought he had gone to the lengths of orchestrating the curse in the first place.

Lisette was very concerned for the princess, and Christien thought that now was not the right time to move to Lavigne at this time, so he turned down the offer. He didn't see Isabel for some days, and when she finally showed her face, she had discarded her veil. She looked just as lovely as he remembered, though perhaps slightly thinner. But she also looked heartbroken. It was some days before Andrei's departure was announced as indefinite, and soon there were many rumors flying around about why. No one knew about the curse, and idle gossipers were only speculating about her veil and wondering if Andrei had pressurized her to wear it. Christien pretended not to know anything about the matter whenever he happened to get caught in a conversation about it.

Isabel soon started visiting the gardens quite frequently again. She was extremely busy with the upcoming coronation, but it seemed like she needed very often to get away from the palace. She had expressed some delight that Christien had decided to stay. She said she needed her friends about her now. But she made no mention of Prince Andrei and Christien never brought him up. He knew that it would be a long time before she would stop mourning his betrayal, and he wished he knew how to help. Despite all the gossip about her the Jardinians enjoyed, they were actually looking forward to her coronation. He wished he could show her.

He mentioned this to Lisette, and she had an idea. She suggested that they visit one of the nearby villages in disguise, like they had done so many weeks ago. Isabel was very amenable to the plan. She dismissed her new retinue of attendants for the day and dressed in the plain clothes that Lisette had acquired for their previous visit.

The excursion to the village did much to cheer her up and she felt optimistic about how she would be perceived as ruler. The talk around the village was all about the coronation, and everyone seemed to be looking forward to having her as queen. However, that they still missed Andrei was evident from the talk. No one knew why he had really left, and the common belief was that he had fought with the council. There were a few who whispered that he had mistreated their princess, but most people refused to believe that. Isabel found that she actually felt glad that the rumors maligning Andrei's character did not receive much credence. She didn't want the people to remember him ill.

They walked back through the town square. Christien had had been working on building small rose gardens in various town squares, and Isabel had not yet had the chance to visit these spots, so he suggested they pass through it. And that was when he saw the old lady. She was picking roses. He walked up behind her and cleared his throat.

"I stopped coming to the palace gardens because you really did not want me there; are these gardens out of bounds too?" she asked in an exasperated voice.

"Actually, we have long hoped to see you in the gardens," Christien replied. "The princess really wished to speak with you."

"Her curse is broken, I am sure she has nothing to say to me," said the old woman, but Isabel had noticed her too and now she walked up to them.

"No, I still want an explanation," she said. "The night you cursed me, you said you did it because I was rude and unkind. Was that the truth?"

"Some of it," replied the woman. "Do you deny you have treated many people, myself included, rather ill?"

"No, I do not, and for that I apologize. But why did you curse me then?"

"I had long wished to teach you a lesson, but unfortunately, I cannot harm humans unless at the bequest of another. But more than that, I am not at liberty to say."

"You had no right," said Isabel coldly. "No matter how unpleasant a person I may have been, you had no right to condemn me to a life of disfigurement."

"I made a mistake," replied the woman. "I made a mess of things, didn't I? The curse was not meant to be permanent; I cast the enchantment wrong, because I was excited that I could help – but I am under oath never to speak of it, though you know all by now." Isabel felt her chest tighten with pain as she thought of Andrei. "I was too eager to punish you," the disguised fairy continued. "I neglected to take into account that I rarely succeed in performing large magic. I rely on the magic of the Forest, and sometimes it makes spells go differently than planned. But I misjudged you. I thought from your behavior that you had a black heart, and that you cared for no one. I was wrong. If you had a black heart, the Forest would have consumed you."

"What really happened that night in the Forest?"

"I do not fully know. I do not know how you resisted the Forest, but I am glad we found you before it was too late. You may have been lost forever if you had ever come into the Forest again."

"Am I safe from the curse now?"

"Yes, once broken, the effect is permanent. You do not need to fear it will return."

That was reassuring. "Why do you pick my roses?" asked Isabel abruptly.

The woman blinked. "I like to lay the petals on my bed," she said. "And I love the fragrance."

Isabel sighed. "You may pick roses from this garden right here as long as you promise never to meddle in human affairs again." She thought she was being more generous than she needed to be. But who knew what the fairy would do if she tried to stop her again?

"Thank you," responded the fairy, surprised. "I promise I will not."

* * *

Andrei sat in his chambers with a bottle of Lavignian wine. He was incredibly frustrated. He should have planned this better. Perhaps he could have found a way to leave Jardinia without confessing. But that might not have broken the curse, and he might have lost all opportunity to break it.

It was entirely Delphine's fault. If she had not come along maybe he would have just given up on Jardinia and moved along. If he found no luck in the Foretlands, he would have travelled further.

He should never have tried to get Isabel out of the way of the throne. But Delphine had really disliked the princess and badly wanted an excuse to punish her. And after the way Isabel had humiliated him at Ioan's wedding, Andrei agreed that she deserved the punishment. And he took the chance to punish her. But now it was he who was being punished.

Maybe he deserved it for being so inconsiderate towards her, no matter how rude and arrogant she may have been, he thought bitterly taking a swig from his bottle. Andrei was particularly fond of Lavignian wine. They used to have it imported to the Inghetlands and those had been some of his earliest experiences in learning how to set up trade relations. He was good at holding his drink, but he had found himself in trouble many a time in his youth for making inappropriate remarks under the influence. George had been rather hard on him at those times.

The thought of George made him angry. He was several years older than both Ioan and Andrei, and had been like a father to them. He had always had high expectations from them and had also instilled in them a strong sense of ambition, but he had been a strict disciplinarian. Their father had died when they were very young, and George had stepped into that role. He taught them to be tough and rational and persevering.

And now George was furious at Andrei's lack of judgment. _I did not raise you to act without honor_ , he had written, _or to place your trust in magic_. George had sent out both his brothers to make their marks in the world, to find kingdoms to rule. The Foretlands had provided the perfect opportunity because their kingdoms allowed daughters to inherit the throne, and at the time they had left home, there was one young queen and one unmarried crown princess, who provided the perfect opportunity for them to become king.

Ioan had arrived first, and jumped at the easier opportunity – the smaller kingdom, and the queen who was waiting for a husband like him. Andrei had always been the more ambitious and had looked forward to the challenge of a large kingdom and a difficult princess. But both younger brothers were expected to uphold Fier in their new kingdoms, and present their homeland in the best possible light. Both older brothers had been annoyed at Andrei on focusing too much on his goal of winning the hearts of the Jardinians to think much about the welfare of Fier. But with Isabel's encouragement, he had started to remember his promise to his king.

But then he went ahead and disgraced both himself and Fier. As punishment, he was even indefinitely barred from going back to his homeland, and now must travel further to seek his fortunes. Ioan had offered no kindness either. All he had were harsh words and disappointment. Only Queen Adaline offered him the solace of her company. The few times he saw Lady Miel, she tended to avoid him. Andrei was not used to being shunned and disliked. It was driving him insane.

But none of this hurt as much as the thought that Isabel hated him. She hated him for what he had done to her, and for the very fact that he tried to harm her. She never wrote him back. Lady Miel said she delivered the letter, but she wouldn't say anymore about it. She had not forgiven him. She would never forgive him. So many times he was on the verge of riding back to Jardinia, and beg for her forgiveness, but he didn't even have the right to ask for forgiveness; and for all he knew he would be arrested right away and would never even get to see her.

He had known she wouldn't forgive him, and that he would have to leave Jardinia. But when he realized that her life was in danger, none of that had mattered. None of his hopes and dreams had mattered. All that mattered was that he had the power to keep her safe. She had said she loved him. The words had had a powerful effect on him. He was ready to do anything for her. But at the time, he had no idea how it would affect him when the finality of losing her would set in after his return to Lavigne.

To make things worse, he now had a visible scar where Isabel had struck him. His appearance did not bother him. Andrei had never been vain about his looks; it had always been his personality that had drawn people to him. But the scar was a reminder of what he had done; it was a reminder of his disgrace. The reason behind his departure was not well known in Lavigne, but he could not go anywhere without being questioned about it. So now he chose to spend his days shut up in his chambers with his bottles, refusing most of his meals.

Andrei was starting to get appalled by his own behavior. His entire life had revolved around his ambitions, and now that he had given everything up for the one person who had become more important than them, losing her in addition to his ambitions had thrown him completely off balance. He had to get a grip of himself and prepare to leave the Foretlands for good. He would start fresh, travel far away, maybe to the Lochlands or the Saharalands, and he would never return. He wished he could go back home just once to see his mother. No doubt she would not treat him so harshly. But George would not allow it.

He would start fresh tomorrow to determine his ideal destination, where he would go to seek his fortunes. Tonight, he did not feel particularly well.

* * *

On the whole, Isabel liked being back in her old skin. She was more comfortable interacting with people. She felt more comfortable speaking with her subjects in the courtroom, and they opened up to her more when they could look upon her face. Besides it was a relief that she would never have to worry about losing herself to uncontrollable anger anymore.

The kingdom of Jardinia was going to host a small celebration for the coronation of their new queen. Isabel had once dreamed of a large event that would have surpassed Adaline's wedding, but now she felt she did not have the heart to go through such a huge celebration. She also did not particularly wish to invite foreign dignitaries who would no doubt ask questions about Andrei's departure. The annulment was to be announced right before the coronation, and she would have to deal with many questions afterwards.

Isabel found herself often worrying for Andrei's future. She was desperate for news about him, but there had been little word from Lavigne regarding his whereabouts and she didn't even know if he had left the Foretlands yet. She had tried to ask Miel indirectly in her letters, but her responses contained very little news. The thought that she would never see him again was difficult to bear, but she must accept it. And there was his letter. Maybe she should have sent a response with Miel, but what would she have said? She wasn't sure if she had forgiven him, and his final and definite goodbye was making it difficult to forgive him. He said he loved her, but then why would he not try to see her again? But of course, how would that be appropriate? They had banished him, she had wounded him, and she had refused to see him before he left. She did not know what kind of mark she left on his face, but there had been a lot of blood. She hoped it had healed by now.

She did not know if she would ever recover from her heartbreak, but the weight of the responsibility she had always wanted gave her the strength to push it aside. She pushed all thought about him aside as he read through the paperwork about the negotiations with Fier. She appointed one of the councilmen and one councilwoman to work with her on the plans for the Jardinian schools and teachers, and tried her best to get them as excited as Andrei could. They were trying to be supportive of her, so they made an effort to be as engaged and interested as they could. And Isabel was also happy to find that she had inspired her two councilwomen to attempt to pull in more weight rather than always deferring to their male colleagues.

Isabel had contemplated a lot on what Andrei had done to her and what the curse had done to her. She discovered that she did not regret the curse, because it had changed her for the better, though she was glad that it had broken. She did not hate Andrei for what he had done, though she would never excuse his motives. But she was grateful, she concluded, that he had lifted the curse from her, and that at a large cost to himself. And now his family was angry with him. Isabel had made up her mind to issue a royal pardon once she was queen. It might appease his family, but it wouldn't really change anything. He was never coming back.

Even though it hurt to be reminded of him in everything she would have to do as queen, Isabel looked forward to doing them. She had her father's wholehearted guidance now, and the council had come to respect her after her work with them over the past few months. Her subjects were looking forward to her being their queen, and she had learned to connect with them. She had friends now who cared about her deeply. Lisette was always by her side. Though they had lost their common ground of disfigurement, and though she had a large number of attendants now, the bond between the two girls remained strong. And Lisette had been right about Christien's devotion. He had been constant in his affections, and Isabel was grateful for his friendship.

On the eve of her coronation, Isabel woke feeling restless and agitated and nervous about what the future would bring. But she was ready. She was going to be queen. And she was determined to be a good one.

 **A/N: Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has followed the story. I had worried whether the story would manage to hold readers' interest (I know I got distracted in my writing several times!) but I'm really grateful that I have been getting many views. I REALLY appreciate the reviews that I have received so far, and especially want to thank Be Rose, 13-Red-Cards and Answer for sharing their thoughts and feedback. Thanks Be Rose in particular for helping me edit, she was essentially like an unofficial beta reader! And I know I keep saying this (but I say this because I see that the story is getting a decent number of views), I really would love to hear from the rest of you as well, even if you didn't like something; actually especially if you didn't like something. Once again, thank you to everyone for your support!**


	18. Bonus Chapter: Oneshot

**A/N: Apologies for the wait! I got very busy IRL but I will be back very soon as soon as I've figured out what to do with the Epilogue. In the meantime, I just wrote this for fun because I don't think these characters are going to make it into the Epilogue, and also because I wanted to write about Isabel from a different perspective. At any rate, feel free to skip this, since it doesn't really flow with the rest of the story.**

 **Bonus Chapter: The Gardener and the Handmaiden**

Lisette watered her plants and smiled at the buds from which petals had started to peek. She was proud of her work.

"You were born to be a gardener, Miss," young Jacques remarked from behind her.

Lisette turned around and smiled at the young apprentice.

"I used to tend the plants in my father's house from a very young age," she reminisced fondly. "Though he always insisted I grow vegetables instead of flowering trees."

"Perhaps the queen will let you become a gardener now?" Jacques wondered hopefully.

Lisette laughed and ruffled his hair, which he resented. He was a young man now, and Lisette treated him like a child. But he had been anxious to be nice to her. On his first week as apprentice, the princess's handmaiden had come to tend to her patch in the garden. He had been unprepared for the large burn mark on her face, and had reacted badly. His employer had been very angry with him, and Jacques had hung his head while he was berated. He had apologized shame-facedly to Lisette, but she had smiled widely and forgiven him immediately. But now Jacques rather liked her bright presence in the gardens and found that the more he saw her, the less he noticed her scar. Though he hoped she would stop seeing him as only a child.

But then he heard his employer approaching and he quickly excused himself and went back to work.

"Good morning," Lisette greeted the head gardener, beaming. She was always full of boundless cheerfulness and all the gardeners were very fond of her.

Christien smiled and returned her greeting and bent down to examine her plants, complimenting her work.

"Jacques was suggesting I should join your employ," she laughed.

"Hmm, I don't have any openings, but if you really want to, I could ask him if he would like to be replaced," he joked loud enough for the apprentice to hear. Jacques looked up in concern, but the pair of them laughed and his employer waved him to go back to work.

"I thought you'd be too busy with preparations for the coronation," Christien said as he walked with Lisette back towards the palace.

"Oh yes, it is very busy. We're in the middle of preparing the royal suite for her highness. Her new attendants are doing a splendid job of it, so I left them to it. They don't seem to want to take orders from me."

Lisette had been one of the princess's lower ranking maids before everyone save her had been reassigned after the curse. Lisette had been kept on because of her disfigurement. In a strange way, her tragic circumstances had elevated her career. Now that the curse was lifted, the princess had employed more attendants but Lisette was of course still to be her chief attendant.

"Her highness has actually been making me read all these books because she's apparently trying to decide whether to make the schools teach them or not. She's been making all the other attendants read them too and we're supposed to give her our opinions on each of them." Lisette sighed. Reading the material the princess had selected was a chore. Ever since she became close with the princess, Lisette had suddenly found her education under scrutiny. She had had only two years of schooling, and neither of them very useful, and the princess had spent some weeks teaching the girl herself to read better; and then she began assigning reading to her handmaiden, mostly books that she thought Lisette should have read in school. Over the last few weeks, the princess's reading tastes seemed to have expanded to much denser and heavy-handed material, which was making her assign rather difficult readings.

"Oh she has been down here grilling poor Jacques about everything he has read in school," Christien chuckled. He liked the boy though he was hard on him. "I was fortunate enough to have managed to evade her questions; I haven't quite managed to catch up to the books she asked me to read." The princess often frequented the garden with books, and whenever Christien would politely inquire what she was reading, she would launch into a description and then recommend he read it. He had accumulated a rather intimidating to-read pile by now.

"I heard the school master speaking about plans for education reform when I was in town though; he seems excited about it," he shrugged. "I think school is going to get harder from now on."

"I don't have very many pleasant memories of school," Lisette thought back to her school days. "Our master was quite terrible."

"I also saw the old woman," said Christien, finally bringing up one of the two things he wanted to talk to her about. "She says she wants to travel to the Inghetlands. And she also said she has lost track of Prince Andrei and she thinks he might have gone back home."

"Oh, he may have left the Foretlands already. But I heard her highness say he can't go back to his homeland."

"That must be difficult," Christien mused.

"Well you never liked him much, did you?"

"Well," said Christien slowly. "No, I didn't. I never liked how he took advantage of her highness's condition, but it seems that had been his plan all along, doesn't it?"

"I don't think he meant for all of this to happen," said Lisette growing serious. They had come near the entrance and now stood in the shade talking. "Although getting mixed up with the fairy was rather stupid of him."

Christien laughed. "Yes, rather stupid actions for someone as intelligent as him. But truth be told, I do think our kingdom has benefitted from the time he served here. And her highness is much changed from the curse, I think for the better."

"Did you like her better before or after the curse?" Lisette had a habit of asking questions rather bluntly sometimes.

"Well, I-", Christien stammered, considering the question. "I liked her for different reasons before and after the curse, I suppose. I daresay she was not very kind to me before the curse, though at the time, I just thought it was normal for someone in her position." Christien would not admit it to Lisette, for she might judge him harshly for it, but he had liked any attention he got from the princess, though it had almost always been negative. He would speak to her boldly, offer compliments that she did not appreciate, and once he sent her flowers. She was beautiful and graceful and regal, and he was enamored by her.

"I could not have imagined she would come to see me as a friend," he continued. "I am sincerely grateful for that." After her curse, the princess would come to the gardens to seek solace. The roses reminder her of her late mother, and the outdoors did much to lift her spirits. During those days she had made a sincere attempt to be nice to Christien and the other gardeners. Christien found her very different from the unknowable mystery he had built her up to be. She was subdued, somber, and covered from head to toe. She began to confide in him about the marriage she had been forced into, and the loss of her hopes and dreams. In time, he began to see her as a real person.

"And," he went on, now broaching the second topic he wanted to discuss with Lisette, "she said I was free to decide if I wanted to take the position at Lavigne."

"But I thought you turned down the offer?" Lisette asked, surprised.

"I did, it did not seem the right time to accept it, but the head gardener wrote me back saying the offer shall remain open should I change my mind."

"Then you've lost all hope?" Her tone had the tiniest hint of accusation.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"She might come to care for you, still."

Christien stared at her in surprise. "She cares for me as a friend, and that was much more than I could have asked for!"

"Christien, I know you've loved her for a long time; don't act like you don't!" She even sounded cross now. She had never actually discussed Christien's feelings with him before, though she had told the princess everything she perceived about his feelings.

Christien was shocked. "Yes, I have; but I never expected anything of it! She would never care for me in that way; it's daft to think she would. And even if she did, I wouldn't want a life of politics and governance."

Lisette hadn't considered this before. Christien sighed. She could be so unbelievably naïve sometimes. Then again, she was still very young.

She was frowning. "I thought your love was true and pure. Well, I hoped Prince Andrei's was too, but even there I was mistaken. I just thought even if I could never find true love, my princess might."

Lisette always maintained a cheerful exterior, and she had always been a lively girl, but she had been deeply affected by the tragic events that had given her the scar and ended her short marriage. She had been swept away by a rogue she had known for a very short time. He was likely attracted to her father's successful trade as a tailor. She came from a considerably well off family from the working class (which had helped her father secure a position at the palace for her later). Christien had run into him later at local pubs and had a very poor opinion of him. He sometimes spoke disparagingly of his current wife.

"You've closed yourself off to the possibility that you might ever find love someday," he observed a little harshly. Lisette suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She did not like feeling so vulnerable around Christien.

"So you have decided to go, then?" She asked bringing the topic back to the job at Lavigne.

"In a few weeks, perhaps. I will bring this up with her highness again. I don't think she will object. I think the gardens here are in good condition; and I trust Frank and Louis to maintain it well and train Jacques."

Lisette nodded. She could not seem to feel happy for him.

"Will you be in touch when I'm gone?" he asked.

"Will you go even if her highness isn't pleased about it?"

She really could be exasperating sometimes.

"Of course I won't go if it will displease her. But she won't object if I tell her that I really do want this opportunity." He cracked a grin, "Well, I do hope she will miss me." But it didn't cheer Lisette up.

They had been standing near the entrance for some time, and by now the sun had moved enough that they were no longer under shade.

"I should get going," Lisette mumbled. "I do have a lot of work before the coronation."

"I hope I see you before I leave," he called after her.

The princess had seemed to think that Lisette cared for him, but he could never be sure if her estimation was true. He had never considered the possibility before she had implied it. In fact, no matter how much he had enjoyed Lisette's company, he had considered her out of bounds because she was the princess's handmaiden. He liked her, that much he knew, but he had not extended it to include romantic notions. He certainly had no thoughts of marriage, and he would never pursue Lisette unless he was prepared to marry her; but then again, he couldn't quite consider marrying a girl who had already had a husband. The princess had seemed rather disappointed at what she considered were his very "traditional" beliefs.

But since the time he had started to consider Lavigne, he wondered whether he should start thinking about the future. He could be gone a few months, maybe a few years. He definitely wanted to return to his homeland, but by then he should think about starting a family. And he knew he would miss Lisette when he left. Perhaps just as much as he would miss the princess.

If he chose to pursue Lisette, he had reason to believe he would have the princess's blessing. But it didn't seem right to pursue her only because he had recently started to think about the future, and because the princess would approve. He would wait, he decided. He would not pursue Lisette unless he was sure of his feelings. She had had her heart broken once already, and he certainly did not wish to be the one who might break it a second time.


	19. Chapter 17

**A/N: First off, thank you to the guest reviewers! I'm so glad you like the story and the side-story and the characters! Hope to hear from you again! And my regular reviewers have also given me a lot to think about! And I ended up** **making a bunch of updates again (sorry!) but I don't think it's necessary to go back to read the changes in order to follow the rest of the story. I'll list them here though:**

 **I made some minor updates to Chapter 12 (at the very end: I expanded on the scene in the library). Chapters 15 and 16, however, have had some major revisions regarding the aftermath of the confession and Andrei's departure. I replaced the first portion of Chapter 15 with some more details of Andrei's hearing, and the middle portion with some details about the council (the parts before and after the letter). The changes in Chapter 16 follow from the ones in 15 (keeping it consistent), but the one change I'll call out here was that I added in a bit where Isabel asks Delphine if she is free from the curse, and Delphine says it's permanently broken, so she doesn't have to worry about it ever coming back. :) Now on to the rest!**

 **Chapter 17**

Isabel's agitation grew worse throughout the day. When asked what the matter was, she could not answer. She could only say that something was wrong.

"You're nervous about tomorrow," her father reassured her. "Spend the day in rest, and it shall all be fine in the morning."

But Isabel could only pace up and down her almost-empty chambers, wishing she could identify the source of her trepidation. She tried to distract herself by reminding herself this was her last night in these rooms. Tomorrow she would move into the royal suite that was now being prepared for her, after her father had moved to what he called more comfortable quarters. But her thoughts kept going back to Andrei. How was she ever going to forget about him?

And then just before evening, to her immense surprise, and perhaps even relief, Miel was announced.

"I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow!" she cried. "But I'm so glad you've come early!"

Isabel tried to explain her current state of mind. "It's not nervousness. It's almost like a sense of dread – and I feel as if there is something I need to do, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Miel sighed and took her hand.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer your letters properly. King Ioan requested I do not write about the royal family."

"What?" Isabel frowned. But her pulse quickened in anticipation to hear what news Miel had brought.

"I came a day early because I knew you would want to know." Miel paused and Isabel grew impatient. "Prince Andrei has been rather sick the past few days."

Isabel was very still and Miel could feel her clutching her hand. And then her questions came flooding out. So he hasn't left yet? How did he get sick? When did he get sick? What kind of sickness? When will he get better?

"I spoke with one of the nurses. His fever isn't coming down." Isabel's grip grew tighter. "And apparently he's a little delirious. He has been asking for you."

* * *

Isabel knew instantly what she needed to do. Coronation notwithstanding, she had to see him. She could never convince her father or anyone, not even a coach driver, to prepare a carriage to take her to Lavigne. She must go on horseback. It would get her there faster anyway.

She had no time to worry whether she would be able to ride such a distance by herself, but she did worry that she might get lost. The path took her through the edge of the Forest and after her episode in there, she found it more frightening than ever. But she ignored her fears and rode on. By nightfall, she could see the vineyards of Lavigne against the horizon in the distance.

It was quite late at night by the time she arrived at the palace. It was difficult finding her way through the city and she had to stop for directions several times. To her relief a shocked Lavignian councilman recognized her and escorted her to the palace.

She was shown into a sitting room, where she waited, hot and dusty, until she was received by Queen Adaline and King Ioan, shock and disbelief etched across their faces.

"Princess Isabel, this is exceedingly unexpected," began Ioan. "We understand it is your coronation tomorrow."

"Please," Isabel entreated a little impatiently, "I'm here to see Prince Andrei."

"I'm afraid that is not possible," Ioan replied. "He is rather unwell and cannot receive guests at the moment."

"But I'm not a guest!" she cried.

Ioan hesitated. "You highness, I cannot express how touched I am by your concern. But after everything that has transpired, do you not think it would be rather inappropriate?"

"Ioan," said his wife, touching his arm. "He's been asking for her. You know that."

"But-"

"Please," Isabel begged, close to tears. "I need to see my husband."

* * *

Ioan didn't know what to make of it. Was she going to change her mind and take him back? Was the marriage not annulled? And hadn't she flat out refused to see him before he left? Ioan had never seen his brother so torn up before, and he couldn't help but feel an unjustified resentment towards Isabel for it. Of course Andrei had brought that upon himself, but he couldn't imagine that the princess was here for any other reason than to enjoy the misery of the one who had caused her so much pain.

Isabel could sense his animosity, and was deeply uncomfortable, but as soon as they had entered Andrei's room, she was no longer aware of Ioan, or the nurses who were tending to him. She walked up to the bed as if in a trance and sat down by his side. She touched his face to feel his temperature, her fingers lingering on the scar that now adorned his cheek.

Suddenly Ioan had the uncomfortable feeling that he was intruding upon a private moment, and he quickly motioned to the nurses to leave with him.

Isabel took Andrei's hand in hers and held it to her chest.

"What did you do to yourself?" she whispered.

"Isabel…" he murmured in his sleep.

"I'm here, dearest." Isabel bit back a sob. "Can you hear me?"

"I'm so sorry."

She clutched his hand tighter. "You should be." He didn't respond. Isabel's tears came freely now.

"You're the most awful person alive. You had me cursed so you could take my throne from me," her accusations came freely too. "How could you be so unfeeling and so wicked?"

His face looked screwed up in pain. "Please don't hate me," he was mumbling.

"But I had accepted the curse, and I was prepared to live with it. All I wanted was my birthright. You gave me back my throne. That was all I needed. We could have been happy," she wept.

"But it all would have been a lie," she kept talking. "I wouldn't have wanted that. Thank you for telling me the truth, even if you broke my heart in the process."

Andrei mumbled something unintelligible and fidgeted on the bed. Isabel reached out and brushed a lock of hair away from his forehead. For the first time she noticed how unkempt he looked.

"Really, what _have_ you done to yourself?" she asked again. But of course there was no response. "I shan't berate you anymore; I can't bear to see how you're suffering the consequences."

"Thank you for lifting the curse from me," she added after a pause. "Life has been easier in some sense. I feel like I've lost a huge burden." She looked at him and sighed. "But it's not worth losing you. Please stay with me. Come back with me."

She kissed the hand she was holding.

"I forgive you," she whispered. "I love you."

She kissed his scar and then his lips.

He didn't move or stir. Then perhaps out of sheer exhaustion after her long ride, Isabel laid her head on his chest and lost consciousness.

* * *

Isabel found herself gently woken from her slumber by a kindly looking nurse. She looked about her in confusion, trying to remember where she was. Sunlight was streaming into the room and Andrei was sleeping peacefully on the bed in front of her.

"Queen Adaline sent me to fetch you, your highness," said the nurse. "She has sent some maids to prepare hot water for your bath and lay out some fresh clothes for you. She requests you join her for breakfast once you are ready."

Isabel nodded and looked at Andrei.

"He shall be fine, your highness," said the nurse. "His fever has come down this morning and we shall look after him."

Thus Isabel let the nurse lead her to a guest chambers where a maid was waiting to help her with her bath and dress. It was relief to wash off the dirt and sweat from last night's journey.

Breakfast was rather awkward because she didn't quite know what to say.

"We sent word to your father that you are safe," Adaline informed her. "And we're preparing a carriage for your journey home."

"Thank you," Isabel replied. "Please, there's no need to rush. I don't think I can make it to my coronation in time anyway, so I'd rather wait till Andrei wakes up."

Adaline smiled. "I am glad you came," she said. "He has been so miserable without you. And Ioan has been so hard on him. And so has King George. He stopped eating properly, and would take nothing but the wine. It's no wonder he fell so sick."

Isabel stared at her plate. "I've been very miserable without him too," she said slowly. "But I can't believe that he fell apart like this. He is always so in control of his emotions. Sometimes he acted like he didn't have any."

"I should have come sooner," she lamented. "I just didn't know if he was still here, or what I would say or-"

Adaline got up and walked over to her. Gently putting a hand her shoulder, she assured her that she had nothing to regret. She had been in a very difficult position. Isabel smiled and wondered why she had never noticed how pleasant Adaline really was. It was only then that Isabel noticed the small bump in her belly. It was barely visible.

"Oh are you…?"

Adaline smiled widely, nodding. "We found out very recently," she said happily. "I've only just started showing; I suppose we shall have to announce it soon."

"Congratulations!" Isabel wished her enthusiastically, "I'm sure there will be much celebration in Lavigne in a few months!"

"Oh yes! I am so excited! We have really missed you in Lavigne. Will you come when the baby is born?"

"Of course!"

Ioan joined them then, and seemed to want no part of the women's gushing conversation about babies. He thanked Isabel for her congratulations, but insisted on sending her back home immediately, lest they cause some international scandal. Isabel scowled and argued with him, and he wondered if she really had changed all that much. Maybe she was regressing to her old ways.

Their argument was cut short when Andrei came bursting into the room, still in his night shirt, his eyes looking wild.

"Isabel?" he asked desperately, looking from one shocked face to the other until he finally recognized her.

 **A/N: This chapter did go on for a bit longer, but I decided to save it for next time. It was probably way too dramatic, wasn't it? But you can probably guess where it came from...and why it didn't happen the other way around?**


	20. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"What are you doing out of bed?" Ioan's rebuke was, however, laced with concern.

Andrei still looked rather disoriented. "The nurse said…" he mumbled, turning his head to look at Isabel, who stood rooted to the spot, her mouth hanging slightly open. She had been nervously anticipating keeping vigil by his bedside until he awoke, but found herself at quite a loss seeing him looking so wild-eyed and desperate. She was only barely aware of Ioan as he shook his head, squeezed his brother's shoulders and left the room with his wife.

Andrei was looking at her as if she were an apparition. "Are you really here?" he whispered.

The next thing she knew was that she had her arms wrapped around him, and she was crying, and his arms were crushing her against him.

"I thought you hated me. You never wanted to see me again." His voice shook, and he struggled rather unsuccessfully to hold back his own tears.

"I do hate you!" she cried. "Do you have any idea how miserable you made me?"

"So I didn't dream about last night? Have you really forgiven me?"

"No," she declared. "I will never forgive you. You said you wouldn't leave."

He pulled her back to look at her. "But I was banished!" he contended confusedly. Of course he knew this face. But the only looks he had received from it were ones of contempt and aversion. "And you wanted me gone. And I had to leave to break the curse."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, reaching up to wipe his tears. She couldn't believe she was seeing him like this, like he had no control over his emotions and was at her mercy. "But what did you expect after a confession like that?" The soft brush of her fingers made him tremble. He closed his eyes to listen to her voice.

"I did hate you right then, when you told me what you had done to me. And I thought everything between us was a lie, and you were the wicked schemer I always thought you were. But…I needed time to realize that you wouldn't have sacrificed everything if you didn't…"

Andrei opened his eyes to look directly into hers. They were just as he remembered them, and now they were wide with earnestness, just like they got every time she tried to convince him of her ideas and like the time she had asked him if he would stay with her.

Andrei pulled her close and held her tightly. He was starting to feel more like himself, and a little less disoriented.

"I knew I would never see you again," he said, burying his face in her shoulder. "I thought I could live with it if I knew that you would be safe, but I couldn't stand the thought of you hating me. I deserved it for being so wicked."

Isabel almost wanted to offer comforting contradictions, but then, he really had been wicked. "But how could you fall apart like this?" she asked instead.

Andrei shook his head. "I don't know. After I came here, I realized everyone just hates me now. It had never occurred to me I'd get barred from Fier. My brothers have been furious with me. Even my mother wrote me to tell me how disappointed she was in my behavior. I could not stand being hated so."

"They don't hate you," she assured him, taking his face in her hands. "You should have seen how worried King Ioan was when you were ill. And King George will forgive you soon. I'm issuing a royal pardon for you, and he can't be mad at you forever."

"It doesn't matter," said Andrei, gripping her arms. "Isabel, I think I can live in a world where everyone hates me if only you didn't." He was looking at her intently, searching for the familiar features and familiar expressions.

Isabel inhaled a shaky breath and she was very close to crying again. She couldn't believe a declaration like that, but at the same time, it was making her want to jump out of her own skin. She hid her face in his chest. "Don't be ridiculous," she said finally. "You know you care far too much about your public image."

And Andrei found himself laughing as he held her tightly. She knew him too well. "I suppose I do." He pulled her back to look at her.

"What?" Isabel asked, laughing.

"I'm trying to get used to your face," he said.

"What, don't tell me you actually liked my fur!"

"It wasn't all that bad! But I suppose I like to see you without it." She was in fact much more beautiful than he remembered, and with all her fur gone, all he could think about now was kissing her.

Isabel scoffed. "Well, I know you hated my claws."

"Well, I won't lie about that. I did," he said as she traced a finger along his scar.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered contritely. "Does it still hurt?"

"No," he shook his head.

She lifted her head and gently kissed his scar. His cheek felt scratchy from his stubble.

"I don't like your fur either," she teased.

"Then I apologize that I can't wait," he said, pressing his lips to hers. He hesitated when he felt her freeze. But then she relaxed, and came closer, and clung to him. And then he kissed her like he had yearned to for so long, and Isabel was lost to the world. She could not feel the ground, or the scratches from his whiskers; she could only feel his arms holding her.

They stayed holding each other for a long time, enjoying the lingering feeling of contentment.

"So, you will return to Jardinia then?" Isabel asked him finally. Andrei's face fell.

"There's nothing I would like better, but what if it brings back the curse?"

"It won't. I ran into your fairy and she told me that I am completely free from it."

He look stunned. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am!"

"I don't have to give you up!"

"Don't give me up," she laughed, and his arms were crushing her again. She thought he looked like he might be blinking back more tears.

"I won't," he whispered. "I love you, and I want to stay with you. I will return if you want me to."

Isabel felt her heart soar, but she had to ask him, "As what?"

"Oh." It was probably better to address the business matters sooner rather than later. "As your husband?" he asked uncertainly. "I'm afraid I'm a little disoriented. What day is it? Are you queen already? Has the marriage been annulled?"

Isabel smiled. "No, it was supposed to have been announced right before my coronation, which was scheduled to happen a few hours from now, but of course I shan't make it there on time; and we can arrange to have the announcement cancelled."

Andrei placed his hands on her shoulder, frowning. "Isabel, if today is your coronation day, what are you doing here?"

"I had my priorities," she challenged.

He shook his head incredulously. "How did you even manage to get here with your coronation about to happen?"

"I came on horseback."

"There is no way you rode such a distance!"

She laughed at his look of incredulity, and then lifted her head and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"But neither of the contracts can hold," she said, now serious. "They weren't written under the right circumstances. I'd like to write the new one."

Andrei nodded in understanding.

"And I still have to decide whether I will let you back on the council," she remarked.

"Well, I suppose, I have ruined my prospects forever," he responded, looking glum, although he was surprised to discover he didn't particularly care at this moment. "So then you do want me to come back as your husband? You do want to be my wife now?" He smiled now.

"Technically, I have been your wife for the past year."

"Yes, but it was an arrangement grudgingly made. Do you feel differently now?"

She did, actually, and it was very strange. She had spent so long ignoring the fact she was married and shuddering at the thought that he was her husband, that she could not fathom how the same thought now filled her with joy.

"Well, if you want a proper marriage, I have conditions."

"Oh?"

"No more secrets."

"Agreed."

Isabel grinned mischievously.

"And no more wine."

"You can't be serious!"

"I'm not going to take any chances that my husband might drink himself to death," she said in a mock-stern voice. Andrei decided it was best to let it go for now.

"Well, as my queen commands, then," he said doing his best to sound resigned, "and I shall patiently await your judgment on whether I am worthy of your council."

"I suppose I'd need to go back soon," she said reluctantly. "The coronation will likely take place tomorrow, and I still need to issue your pardon, then I can send for you-"

"Don't be silly," he interrupted. "I'm coming with you today. I'll risk the arrest if I have to."

"But you're still recovering!"

"I'm completely fine, but I won't be if I'm parted from you now. I'm not letting you leave without me."

Isabel should have protested and insisted that needed to rest, but she also could not bear to part with him now either. Besides, she wanted him to be present at her coronation.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Alright."

"So have you forgiven me, then?"

"If I said no, what would you do to change my mind?"

Andrei's smile faltered. "If you let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy and be worthy of you. But you deserve better than me."

Isabel shook her head vigorously at the expression on his face. "I don't care what I deserve. I just want you." When he smiled, she hugged him tightly again. "But I have a lot of ideas about how you can make it up to me."

 **A/N: This was really difficult to write, not gonna lie. I had to cut and paste the conversation around a lot and cut out a lot of it, but hopefully the final product is okay!**

 **But I do want to take a moment to explain what I was trying to do with the story. So, I don't really consider this story a _Beauty and the Beast_ retelling, or even a BatB genderbend retelling. It was only BatB genderbend inspired. I have received questions about which BatB roles are played by which characters. I wanted to avoid addressing that question until I posted Chapter 17, but now I'm ready to share! The idea was that even though Isabel is the one who is cursed to look like a beast, she is still the Beauty character. Andrei, the ambitious self-entitled schemer (who was actually styled on Prince Hans from _Frozen_ ) is the figurative beast, and what I'd hoped to do was have him come to learn to love somebody enough to care about them more than himself, and being loved in return inspires him to try to do better. Not sure how much of that came through, but that's what I was going for.**

 **I understand Andrei has been a bit of a hit or miss, likely because he is so heavily flawed and ambiguous, and I do really appreciate the feedback I have received on why he didn't work so well as a character for some of my readers. But I'm glad that he seemed to have connected with most of you! :)**

 **There's one more concluding chapter before the Epilogue, and they're coming soon!**


	21. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"She has gone where?"

Prince Henri had thought he would drop by to see his daughter the night before her coronation to see if her nerves had calmed since earlier in the day. But she was not in her chambers and he only found Miel in the princess's sitting room alone. Miel had the unfortunate task of having to inform him of his daughter's whereabouts.

"I'm terribly sorry, your majesty. I'm afraid I came bearing news of Prince Andrei's illness, and her highness felt she needed to see him right away."

"Why didn't you come to me with the news?" he demanded. "How sick is he? Why haven't I heard of this?"

"He has been ill a few days with no sign of recovery. I believe King Ioan didn't think it was appropriate to trouble you with the news at this time."

Prince Henri looked troubled. He had loved Andrei like a son. He had not quite forgiven the young prince, but the news of his illness was deeply upsetting. He was even more troubled when he discovered his daughter had ridden to Lavigne on horseback. She was not an experienced rider, he knew. He doubted she would even make it there by herself. He worried all night for both children, and considered whether he should travel to Lavigne himself in the morning.

However, in the early hours the next day, a messenger arrived from Lavigne bearing news that the princess was safe and would be escorted home shortly, and that Prince Andrei had taken a turn and was likely to recover. Even as the relief washed over him, Prince Henri had to laugh at Andrei. Was he really sick, or simply heartsick, or perhaps plotting to win his way back to Jardinia? Isabel would have accused him of scheming not too long ago, but despite all her claims of hatred for him, and all her conditions that he never come near her, she had come to a state where Henri could see that she would not be happy without him. But Isabel had seen through him from the very first; she had not been immediately charmed unlike everyone else, Henri himself included. Andrei had earned her love by being the support her father had failed to be.

Henri knew that she had forgiven him. If she accepted his repentance, why shouldn't he? Andrei had confessed out of a sense of guilt and concern for Isabel's welfare, and accepted the harsh consequences that awaited him. And even before that, he had agreed to hand back the very sovereignty that he had been so desperately after. He had put his ambitions aside for her. Having had sufficient time since the confession to reflect upon everything that had transpired, Henri could not doubt that Andrei truly cared for Isabel.

Henri was not altogether surprised when he discovered that Andrei was on his way to Jardinia with Isabel. Another messenger had been sent ahead of the royal carriage to inform him of this. However, he was still officially banished, and the matter had to be dealt with appropriately. He summoned the council to await their return. The council unsurprisingly was rather delighted to learn of this development. They were very eager to have him back.

Upon arrival, Andrei and Isabel were sent immediately to the council room. Andrei was still weak from his illness, and the journey had done him no favors. He had to lean on Isabel for support, and she seemed anxious to put him to bed. But Andrei determinedly repeated his formal apology, swore his allegiance to Jardinia and to Isabel, and declared he would accept whatever position they offered him, even if they didn't offer him one, as long as he could stay with his wife. The council made its position clear that they were happy to pardon him and welcome him back, but they looked to Henri and Isabel for the final word. Isabel said she had already prepared the pardon, and that it could be issued tomorrow, but she was insisted that there be further negotiations as soon as possible for a new contract with which the marriage would be reinstated. She knew the council would be unhappy if she denied him a position and they might challenge her on that decision, and truthfully, he was easily the best adviser she could find. But she would make him wait, and wondered with her mischievous curiosity how long it would be before his resolve broke and he would attempt to negotiate his way back into the council.

After a little bit of confusion, Andrei's old attendants set about preparing a room for him in the royal suite, rather than his previous chambers. But he was hardly in any condition to wait, so Isabel sent him to bed in the royal bedchambers that had been prepared for her. He was asleep as soon as his head touched the pillows. Isabel stayed up for some time in the parlor of her new suite with Miel and Lisette recounting the events of the past twenty-four hours, though there was not a whole lot to tell, since she provided them only with a gist of her conversations with Andrei, even though Lisette kept pressing for as much detail as her station allowed her to ask.

Isabel was rather exhausted herself, thus she retired for the night after Lisette helped her get ready for bed. She debated whether to spend the night in the room that had now been prepared for Andrei, so as not to bother his sleep, but Lisette told her she was being silly. So she walked quietly into the large royal chamber and crept into bed. She lightly touched Andrei's forehead to see if he still had a fever. Then she ran her fingers through his hair the way her mother used to do when she was sick. Isabel smiled as she lay down and reflected on how she was going to start a new chapter of her life tomorrow, and step into new roles, for better or for worse.

* * *

The coronation ended up being a slightly bigger event than had been originally intended. It had been planned as a small internal event, with only the key Jardinian nobility in attendance, but news of Prince Andrei's sudden return had spread and more guests had showed up.

Later, Isabel would confidently be able to say it was the happiest day of her life. Her countrymen and her subjects toasted her and swore their allegiance to her. And Andrei was there. He seemed to have fully recovered after a good night's rest, and was back to his old self again. He was the last to swear his allegiance to Isabel, but he made a big show of taking several vows to protect her, to support and guide her, and to cherish her. Isabel did not know whether to laugh or cry. Based on how moved the crowd seemed to be, she knew Andrei was back in everyone's graces. But she had to admit that such a heartfelt declaration from him would elevate her own public image, and it was just like Andrei to be always striving to make a strong impression.

A small celebration followed, in which the queen and her consort mingled with the guests. As always happened to him, Andrei was the center of attention even though it was Isabel's coronation. He was bombarded with questions about his long absence (which he tried to avoid by attributing to personal reasons) and the scar on his face (which he tried to attribute to a hunting accident). Isabel would normally have been extremely irritated by all the attention he was getting, but on this day, every time she looked at him, she only felt an overwhelming sense of happiness. Besides, no matter how much attention he was receiving, Andrei's attentions were focused solely on his wife.

 **A/N: Just brushing up a few loose ends in this chapter and I apologize in advance for the Epilogue. I had a really hard time with it, and with deciding what to put in it, and I've rewritten it several times already, and I'm still not very happy with it. But I've had enough, and it's going to be up tomorrow! In the meantime, Happy Holidays! ^_^**


	22. Chapter 20 (Epilogue)

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the encouragement! Hope you like the Epilogue! And you can always PM me if I've left something unanswered. ;P**

 **Chapter 20 (Epilogue)**

 ** _Some months later_**

King George of Fier was finally travelling down to Jardinia to celebrate the growing alliance between their two kingdoms. A number of blacksmiths and ironsmiths from Fier had settled down in the brand new town of Ferville, and a few had settled in the bordering Lavignian town. They had set up their trades right away and so many hopeful apprentices had been flocking to their shops that it seemed very likely that Jardinia would invite more smiths to come. Apprentices from all over the Foretlands had been coming to seek their fortunes, and now the smaller Foret kingdoms were also starting to consider industrialization. Trade had flourished in Fier as their iron ore exports had increased, and the job shortage situation showed promise of improvement. On the whole, King George was satisfied with the state of his economy.

Now that the immigrants had settled, the new town had come to life, and the iron and steel production had begun full force, the time had come for a celebration. This was King George's first visit to Jardinia. He had not visited when his youngest brother had married into the Jardinian throne. There had not been much of an event for that wedding, and he had also only just returned from the wedding of his middle brother at Lavigne.

He had raised his younger brothers to be kings, but he could not give them any kingdoms, so he sent them out to the world to seek their own fortunes. Ioan had always been sensible and responsible, and having made himself useful to the helpless and inexperienced queen of Lavigne, soon found himself a place on her throne. Andrei was the more talented and more the natural leader out of the two, but he had always been somewhat impulsive and wont to set his sights on larger prizes. Securing his place on the Jardinian throne has posed a challenge, but Andrei had a way of getting what he wanted. He had somehow managed to corner the Jardinian crown princess into marriage, though she had been determined to reject him. And then he had done a splendid job of gaining popularity among the Jardinian people and the support of the Jardinian council.

He was mere weeks away from being crowned king, when his deception was discovered. George had been furious and ashamed to discover the measures to which he had resorted in order to secure the throne. He had disgraced not only himself, but his entire kingdom, and George would not let him return. But true to form, Andrei really did have a way of getting what he wanted, and before long, he had won his way back into Jardinia, though not as king, but as the chief adviser of the newly crowned queen. Eventually, George pardoned his brother, and, at their mother's insistence, much sooner than he had planned. He was pleased to discover that Andrei, with backing from his wife, was now very willing to take up his position as Fier's ambassador in the Foretlands.

As a sign of no goodwill lost between the two kingdoms, Fier invited the queen of Jardinia to visit the land of her family by law. George had to wonder how Andrei had managed to trick her yet again into staying in the marriage, but nothing in his behavior towards his wife implied the least bit of trickery. In fact, it looked to George like Andrei worshiped her. Much to his shock, Andrei claimed to have given up wine (outside of formal gatherings) because his wife would not allow it. A man bending to his wife's unreasonable demands was unheard of in the Inghetlands. But Andrei laughed that it would not be long before he got her to relent. George wouldn't be surprised if he had been having his fill behind her back, actually. But he was starting to believe Ioan's tall tale of Andrei's illness and his miraculous recovery brought on by the mere presence of his wife.

When King George arrived in Ferville for the celebration, he wondered how the queen was handling the mammoth task of managing Inghet immigrants living together with native Jardinians and the influx of hopeful apprentices from other Foret kingdoms into Ferville. He was pleased to learn that Andrei had been instrumental in bringing the townsfolk together. His presence was very comforting to his countrymen, who had come all the way to seek their fortunes in a foreign land; and with help from Ioan, he did much to help these men and their families adjust to their new environment. The Jardinians loved Prince Andrei immensely, George observed; it was evident from their response when his brother greeted the townsfolk and stood to make his address. It appeared that the queen delegated much of the public speaking duties to her husband. Though she had come to become beloved, her husband inspired the more popular response.

King Ioan also made an address, speaking of the joint efforts between Jardinia and Lavigne to introduce steel production to the Foretlands, and of his hopes for the future. The queen of Lavigne was absent, having been confined indoors, being in the last stages of her pregnancy. Soon Ioan would have an heir to his kingdom. As of right now, Queen Isabel had made no announcement in that regard, but George hoped it would only be a matter of time.

"You must be proud of your brothers, your majesty," said Prince Henri, joining him at the refreshment table.

"Certainly I am proud of their accomplishments, your highness," agreed King George, "But it difficult to forget an egregious lapse of judgment that could have destroyed the relationship between our two kingdoms."

Henri smiled. "You will find that we Jardinians are quite reasonable. We were quick to forgive. But after all, he had made the mistake before he married into our kingdom. We trust that he has atoned for it by now. And of course he had made it clear during the hearing that Fier was in no way involved, and that his brothers had no knowledge of the matter."

They watched the dancers on the floor for some time. "And you are enjoying your retirement?" George asked after a while.

"Most definitely," replied Henri. "I had been looking forward to it for so long, that it was quite a relief when Andrei showed up, willing to take over. To be honest, I had not thought my daughter would have the strength or capacity to rule, but it seems, with Andrei's support, she has flourished. It still surprises me though that he is content in a mere adviser role to the monarch."

"Well it seems to me he has been awarded more authority and responsibilities than a mere adviser, but I must say I was pleased to see him take up his role as my ambassador. I am glad to see that he is working hard, as I have raised him to do, and that he has focused his ambitions on the betterment of the people, rather than on himself. And truth be told, he seems exceptionally happy here. I suppose I have your daughter to thank for it." He watched the young queen blithely leave the dance floor, smiling up at her husband as she took his outstretched hand. George regarded the look on Andrei's face as he spoke to his wife. How was it that he was so fortunate in love despite his sedition?

"She has changed tremendously too, ever since she was cursed," said Henri, interrupting his musings. "Sometimes I think Andrei's treacherous scheme of cursing her actually turned on its head and helped them both become who they are today, and unbelievable as it is, it also brought them together. And I must say, Jardinia had benefited much from their collaborative efforts."

As he watched them together, George had to agree he was happy that they had learned to work together so effectively. He remembered when he had seen them together at Ioan's wedding, when his disdain for her and her animosity towards him had been obvious. Indeed, Prince Henri was right. They may have never come together to find happiness if Andrei had not had a serious lapse in his judgment.

But he hoped that he was done having to deal with magic. He had never approved of it himself, and Fier was far enough from the Forest that his people were hardly ever subject to it. But he often heard rumors from the Inghet kingdoms at foot of the mountains by the edge of the Forest of wood nymphs who stole from villagers or made deals with those who were desperate.

Unbeknownst to him, George's second son, Emil, a young lad of fifteen, was travelling with hunters in the Forest near the kingdom of Silvi. There he will meet a young woman, who will claim to be a fairy in disguise. She will be quite delighted to learn who he is, for apparently she had known his uncle from whom she had heard all about the cold Inghetlands. George would later wonder what keeps drawing Emil to the kingdom of Silvi. Perhaps if he chooses not to keep his liaison with Delphine a secret, his family might put an end to it. Emil is not unlike his uncle Andrei. He has big plans too for his future; and he has to seek his own fortunes since it will be his older brother who would inherit the kingdom of Fier. And perhaps history has a way of repeating itself.

 **A/N: And there you have it! The End.**

 **I just want to be clear that the last two paragraphs are really only there because I couldn't think of anything else. I wasn't going to say "And they all lived happily ever after", but I also don't know what trouble might be brewing next, but I figured Delphine would have something to do with it. I don't actually know what she's going to get up to, though it could be fun coming up with Emil's story, but I don't have any plans or ideas for a sequel.**

 **But it has meant the world to me to hear from you about what you thought of the story, what you liked and didn't like, your reactions to the characters and the choices they made, and even what you hope happens to the characters! And to anyone who finds this story after it has been long completed, and you've read it all the way through, please do know that I would still love to hear your thoughts.**

 **Also, I wanted to give a shout-out to some of my favorite _Beauty and the Beast_ retellings on this site (by some of my wonderful reviewers who have given me excellent feedback throughout the progress of this story):**

 ** _The Castle in the Swamp_ by Be Rose (complete) - I loved the interpretation of the beast and his "transformation"**

 ** _Useless Beauty_ by 13-Red-Cards (complete) - I loved the interpretation of the curse and how it ties to the beast's redemption, and the unconventional take on Belle/Beauty**

 ** _Faustina: Beauty and the Beast in Venice_ by Answer (in progress as of Dec 2015) - updates regularly and is a ton of fun to follow along; and also is easily my favorite among the stories I'm following right now; you should definitely check it out if you haven't done so; apart from the Venice setting which makes it fun to begin with, it also has a different unconventional take on the Beauty character and the circumstances of being trapped in the Beast's castle.**

 **And I also wanted to give a shout-out to a _Donkeyskin_ retelling I've been following (also by one of my reviewers): _Owlfeathers_ by treadingfire (also in progress as of Dec 2015 and updates regularly and is written like an epic fantasy)**

 **Hope you enjoyed _Curses and Choices_ , don't forget to let me know what you thought, and hope you check out these other stories too!**

 **\- sildarmillion**


End file.
